Someday is Something
by Cutebabe79
Summary: Set shortly after Joey leaves the Bay. Will she come back and forgive Charlie?
1. Chapter 1

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: K +

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All belongs to H&A and Channel 7 – if it didn't Jarlie would still be on our screens.

Summary: We'll start a tad after Joey left, and flash-forward 3 months forward in the upcoming chapters.

**Chapter One**

She's gone. Charlie slumped to her knees as she watched Joey disappear from her sight on the trawler. Charlie couldn't breathe, couldn't believe that she didn't do everything possible to keep Joey...her Joey to stay in the bay with her. Tears streaked down her face, her emotions were overflowing. She'd realized the extent of the biggest mistake of her life – because it had cost her the love of her life. She thought back to the beginning of her relationship with Joey and couldn't believe how fast everything had happened.

It seemed like it was only yesterday that she was a carefree, workaholic cop. And single. Things seemed so simple but lonely. It all changed when she spotted a cute, brunette behind the bar at Noah's. And before she could even pinpoint it she was in love. She was terrified when she admitted her feelings for Joey, but felt that everything was going to be ok. She had Joey by her side, and Ruby supported her. That's all that mattered.

But everything entailed with being with Joey eventually destroyed them. It was all her fault. She knew that. She had screwed up, and Joey would never trust her again. All because of Hugo. How could one person have such a bad affect on her life? Choking back more tears, she thought about how much of an influence Joey had had on her life. She _was_ her life. Charlie knew she had to be strong, and just wait for Joey to return.

"Three months is forever." How true that felt. Charlie continued to stare out to the sea, praying that her Joey would change her mind, return to give her – them – another chance. She sat down on the edge of the pier with her legs dangling in the water. It seemed like only minutes passed by, but suddenly she noticed the sun had set and the wind had picked up. Shivers run down her spine. Is this what it will be like for the next three months? Sitting, waiting, regretting one stupid night. Why did she have to prove to herself she wasn't gay? What did it matter what she was? She had an amazing girlfriend who loved her. _Had. _Charlie hated the past tense.

The shrill of her mobile phone broke the silence. Charlie looked at her caller ID: Ruby. She loved her sister but couldn't bear to talk to her right now. Ruby never meant it but Charlie knew she'd be getting the "I told you so" speech from her baby sister when she found out Joey had left. This time Charlie knew that Ruby was right, she shouldn't have lied to Joey. Maybe if she had of told her the truth about her night with Hugo, defended her actions after the worst day in her career. No there was no defending her actions – sleeping with Hugo, drunk or not she made the choice. Joey would never trust her again, and Charlie knew she shouldn't but hoped that after three months she and Joey had changed enough work through all this. For Joey to forgive her, for Charlie to prove she could be who Joey needed.

The sun was beginning to rise as Charlie finally got up and made her way to her car. Instead of getting in and driving off, she leaned against the bonnet, just praying something would happen to fix all her problems. Before long Aden walked by and joined her. Joey must have told him she was leaving, and he was pretty devastated. Charlie wished Joey had enough courage to tell her about the job on the trawler. If it wasn't for the Ipod and Brett she never would have known. Aden convinced her to go home, but they took a detour when she offered him a lift back to Roman's. She was really surprised when Aden asked her in for a coffee. She figured Aden being the protective guy he was to Joey would hate her. But he didn't, he understood what was happening between her and Joey without needing to be told. Maybe their love was obvious to the people around them. Charlie took off home after a slight run in with an insensitive Nicole and an angry Roman. Maybe she wasn't the only one with problems.

Charlie collapsed in a heap on her bed, beginning to cry all over again. She almost laughed when she realized what she must look like. She was meant to be a tough cop, but here she was – an absolute mess. But she couldn't smile; it was like everything good in this world had left along with Joey. After awhile she fell asleep and was disorientated when she heard someone knocking on the front door. Not sure if she wanted to face whoever it was, she was slightly relieved when she saw it was Roman. He couldn't see how badly messed up she was, one of the advantages – on Charlie's part – of his blindness.

Charlie helped him sit down and started making them some lunch. She was trying not to fall apart in front of her ex, she knew he was having a hard time adjusting to the loss of his eyesight, and had witnessed that back at his place. Being the typical guy he was, Roman had come to apologise...and inquire about the newfound fact that she has a girlfriend. She couldn't lie to him. They had being very close at one stage. She needed someone to confide in, so she told him the truth that Joey and she were more than friends, but Joey had left for a few months for work. Well it was a half-truth at any rate. Being an ex-boyfriend she did try to explain to him that she wasn't gay, that she just didn't know what she was, and if she did why should it matter to anyone else. Charlie wished she had being thinking that before she went home with Hugo.

After Leah had interrupted their lunch, and Roman had made a not-too-subtle exit, Charlie found herself back in her room. Collapsing on the bed she noticed a letter on her bedside table. The envelope had her name written on it. Joey's handwriting. Charlie fought back tears as she slipped the letter out of the envelope and began to read.

_Charlie,_

_I wish I had the courage to tell you in person, but as you're reading this letter I'll be on a boat sailing away from Summer Bay. I've taken a job on a trawler and it's a great opportunity for me. Not just as a job, but to get away from his town and get some perspective on what I want to happen with us. I still love you, you know that, but I can't be with you right now. I'm hoping this time will help mend these wounds but I can't promise you it will._

_I still can't believe I'm leaving but I need to be strong. I need to learn to trust you again, and that won't happen as long as we're still in the same town bumping into each other. I can't stand to see your puppy dog eyes begging me for forgiveness again – because I know it'll work and I'll forgive you. Or at least I'll say all is forgiven so I can be wrapped in your arms again. But I can't go through this pain again. You know how hurt I was after everything with Robbo, and I'll never trust anyone again if I pushed us back together too soon and this doesn't work between us._

_I'll be back in 3 months for the court case, and maybe then when things have settled down can we truly make this relationship work. I need you to give me this time and work out if I can trust you again, but I promise you I will give you a chance. Might not be as soon as you hope but it'll be...someday._

_Always & forever_

_Joey_

Charlie re-read the letter again and again before placing it back on the table. Fighting back more tears, she slipped under the covers, whispering to herself..."someday is something."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

**Chapter Two**

"Someday is something." It felt like that was the reason Charlie had survived the last three months. Everyday had passed by so slowly and Charlie thought she'd never get here. The last few months had been brutal without Joey, but one word – "someday" – kept her going, knowing that Joey would be back and they would have a chance together. Three months really had felt like forever. The first few weeks after Joey had left, Charlie had taken a few days off work, and just moped around the house, lying in bed crying for hours. She didn't want to go back to work and face reality. But unfortunately when Angelo had turned back up in town, she was forced to go back to support her colleagues through the adjustment of having the "cop-killer" back in their lives.

Charlie sure didn't make things easy for her one-time fling. She knew a lot of her anger stemmed from what she had been through with Joey, and after a few weeks Angelo finally called her on it. He didn't know anything about Joey, but he knew that Charlie's anger came from a place of grief and she was taking it all out on him. He knew he deserved it for killing Jack and walking free, but he couldn't stand the way she constantly glared at him. Didn't they have something special once? Then one night at the end of a shift, when the office was empty he approached Charlie hoping to work things out between them. Charlie was still in her office, doing paperwork. And Charlie hated paperwork, so Angelo knew that if Charlie was spending so much extra time at work she was avoiding whatever it was she didn't want to face.

Charlie was stunned when she found herself confessing all about Joey, and their relationship to Angelo. Angelo was hardly the type of guy that anyone could open up to, but Charlie felt she could trust him enough to be honest with him. Guess part of her also wanted to make it clear to him that the former lovers had no future together, and it had nothing to do with Angelo's mistakes. Charlie broke down in tears after telling Angelo about Joey leaving, and was surprised when she realized he had sat silent through her whole story and when finished reached out to hug her. Charlie wanted so badly to push him away, but she couldn't keep up her charade anymore. She was no longer a tough, uncaring cop. Angelo listened without passing judgment; he could see in Charlie's eyes how hurt she was and how much she had loved this girl, Joey. He hoped that Charlie would understand that she had just made mistakes, like he did. They sat in silence for a while.

Charlie had felt she had made some progress over the next few days, revealing her feelings to Angelo, but she was still working extra long hours to avoid going home to their empty room. _Her_ empty room. Ruby was thrilled her sister wasn't moping about anymore, it had hurt her that her sister hadn't opened up to her after Joey took off. Charlie still looked upset most of the time, but she was slowly getting back to normal. Ruby hated seeing her sister in pain, and was waiting for things to improve, for the right moment before she told her sister that she had been in contact with Joey via several text messages. Ruby couldn't stand lying to her sister, but over the past few weeks Joey had contacted her to check how Charlie was. Joey begged Ruby not to say anything, and Ruby wished that it would help her sister to realize that after everything Joey still cared for her.

Joey's messages were short, and they never revealed how she felt or where she was, but Ruby was glad to hear from her. She had been like a second sister to Ruby. But she also knew that as much as the messages might help Charlie it may also hurt her that Joey didn't want any contact with her directly, just checking up on her through her sister. And then just as she was preparing to tell Charlie about the messages, Charlie had found them herself. After accidentally leaving her mobile at home one morning, Charlie had found it ringing just after Ruby had taken off to school. Expecting it to be Ruby telling her to drop the phone off at school for her because she would _die _without her phone for the day, Charlie was shocked when she saw on the caller ID that it was Joey on the other end.

"Jo...Joey?" she hesitated as she answered the phone. Before she could even draw a breath to say something else, all she heard was the dial tone. Collapsing onto the sofa, Charlie shook her head, talking to herself, "Joey didn't just hang up on me, surely her phone just lost reception. This isn't even my phone, why was Joey calling Ruby??" Before she could stop herself, she flicked through the messages in the phone's inbox, and saw what her sister had been hiding. Charlie read through each and every message several times, before moving to the 'sent items' to read Ruby's replies. "How could Ruby hide this? Why couldn't Joey even talk to me? I thought things would be ok. Someday. That's what she promised. Why can't someday be today?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: The Buckton sisters fight over Ruby's betrayl and will Charlie also fight for Joey?

**Chapter Three**

Ruby breezed into the lounge room during her lunch break. After a typical morning at school, she headed back to grab some lunch, and do a quick search for her mobile phone, that she was sure she had left behind in her rush to be ontime that morning. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Charlie lying limply on the couch, with several empty bottles of beer on the floor. She rushed over to her big sister to check if she was ok. She was used to being afraid of Charlie going to work with the possibility of never coming back, but seeing her sister collapsed surrounded by alcohol was another thing entirely. Rushing over to her, Ruby breathed a sigh of relief after Charlie rolled over, grabbing her forehead. The first signs of an awful hangover. Charlie looked up, and glared at her sister when she recognised her through the fuzzy images her mind was creating.

Sure enough, Charlie was not impressed with Ruby and things became extremely intense between the two girls over the next few days. Charlie would not accept any of Ruby's excuses for not telling her about her being in contact with Joey, and Ruby continued to defend the fact she was looking out for her sister. Trying to protect her. She could see how torn up her sister was and it hurt her not being able to make things better. Things didn't get much better for quite some time. Ruby tried to get a hold of Joey about a million times but the girl refused to answer any calls or texts. Ruby was afraid that Charlie had scared her off and she was now afraid to answer any of her calls expecting it to be Charlie again.

Charlie continued to drink...often. All she ever did now was cry, work and drink, then start all over again. Her heart was broken all over again, and she refused to let any of her friends help her through her pain. It became a regular occurrence that Leah found her at Noah's or drinking at home. A broken-hearted Charlie Buckton was not the best housemate but Leah kept trying to get her through this, knowing that it wouldn't be much longer until Joey was home again. Charlie hated the fact that Joey had the opportunity to contact her and didn't. She felt that she was back to square one when Joey had taken off. The letter Joey had left her had given her the opportunity to hope for the future. But how could they have a future when Joey couldn't bare to talk to her? Charlie eventually let Ruby off the hook. She knew that her sister meant what was best for her but wished she had of been honest with her.

Charlie kept drowning her sorrows, spending all her time at work, she was so consumed with anger and guilt she barely noticed the days, while achingly slow, were starting to race by. Before she could think she looked up at the calendar above her desk one day at work – one more week. It was only one more week until the three months of hell were over, and the court case was to begin. Although that was going to be a whole new part of hell. Charlie realized that Joey would need to be in town just before the start of the court case and she would probably be back soon. Charlie had organized Morag to assist Joey with her case pro-bono as a favour. She'd been so caught up with her problems, she'd forgotten that Morag would probably know exactly when Joey would be back as she needed to prep her for the case. Morag didn't even know the specific details of the case, and that Charlie wanted to be on the stand and confirm her relationship with Joey to support the case. Morag didn't ask twice about the case when Charlie had asked her to take it on, and she was scared about how her step-mother would react to the relationship between the pair. She knew she wanted to tell her father before his illness stopped him from knowing how happy his daughter is. Was. Will be. Charlie sighed.

She wanted to wait until Joey was by her side again, supporting her before she spoke to them. She hoped her father would be happy for her, but had no idea how the stern-looking Morag would take it. Charlie laughed as she imagined Morag fainting from shock. Charlie looked at her reflection in a small mirror on the wall, she looked terrible, her skin was washed out, her hair was tangled up in a ponytail. But she was laughing. Less than one week for Charlie to get her life back in order, so she can win back the girl of her dreams. She became determined she would do what she should've done three months ago: "Fight for her." Joey could ignore her phone calls, avoid seeing her in public around the Bay. Charlie didn't care. She needed her back and it didn't matter what it took or how long it would take. It didn't matter what it took: confessing all on the court stand, displaying her feelings in public, standing in the middle of Diner on a table informing all patrons of their relationship. The hell with the gossiping-Colleens of the town. She'd do what she had to get her soul mate back. Someday is now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: What's Joey been up to for the past 3 months? Is there someone new in her life?

**Chapter Four**

Joey woke with a fright, looking outside the boat's window to see it was raining. Great. The weather was miserable, and today she was heading back to Summer Bay. Welcome home she thought. Rolling over, trying to get more comfortable, Joey was terrified about what her future held back in the Bay. She was getting more and more anxious as the days continued to drag along, knowing it wouldn't be long before she had to go back and face everything she'd been running from: Robbo, the court case, Brett, Hugo...Charlie. There were so many bad memories from one small town, but there were also some great memories she never wanted to forget. Charlie had been pretty much all of her great memories. From simple things like going jogging down at the beach, cooking meals together, making out all day long on Charlie's days off, to their first night in the car when Charlie had admitted her feelings, and every time they had made love since.

But things have changed. Charlie slept with Hugo one night when they were forced apart, and lied about it for over a week. Joey might have been willing to forgive Charlie for her for her mistake, but she had every opportunity to confess her wrongdoing, and refused to. Instead she spent the week making her feel like the most amazing person in the world, dazzling her with attention, and spending every minute alone together locked up in their room. God she was a fool for falling for Charlie, not knowing how badly she was going to get hurt. Well she thought she was going to get hurt when she first began having feelings for Charlie, knowing those feelings would never to returned. She still couldn't believe that the gorgeous, brunette cop had developed feelings for her, and admitted them to her one night, after the danger of losing Joey to a long-haul job. Just like this one. Everything seemed so perfect between them once, and Joey wished they could go back to that place.

Looking around again, she tried to take her mind off her problems, and was glad when they were interrupted. "Hey Jo, quit it," came a voice above her. "Quit what?" she asked quietly. A head popped over the side from the top bunk bed, "Quit thinking. I can hear your mind racing from up here Jo." Joey chuckled, and grabbed the girls' hand. "Thanks. I needed to take my mind off things." They lay like that for a while, Joey holding onto the hand dangling over the edge of the top bunk. Haley Davies. The girl had been like a godsend to Joey, ever since she joined the crew on the trawler. They had bonded pretty quickly the moment they got on board; being the only girls on board, sharing a cabin helped them get closer.

Haley was the same age as Joey, and a thin, light-brunette, blue-eyed, Irish girl. And totally adorable. Joey sure couldn't deny that. She had also been one of her first real friend she had ever had. Joey didn't have any friends in school, and with the exception of Aden, almost all the people she got close to in Summer Bay had all been because of Charlie. Haley slipped her fingers though Joey's, lightly stroking her hand, as she held onto her. "What's on your mind Collins?" "Everything, Davies, everything" came the distant reply. Haley let go of Joey's hand before slipping down from the top bunk, and swiftly slipped next to Joey. Joey snuggled into the girl's embrace. Haley was one of the sweetest girls she had known. She always knew how to make Joey feel just a little bit better. Sometimes just a little bit was all she needed to make it through the day.

They weren't together. Haley was gay sure (there sure was a stereotype for girls working on a prawn trawler and Joey sure knew how to pick 'em) but she could see how much pain Joey was in. How distant she was most of the time. But the two girls had developed a close relationship, and trusted one another completely. They had to, dealing with most of the blokes on board had taught them a lot. Joey was nervous about being around the guys after the events with Robbo. But eventually she relaxed a bit and found out that most of the guys on board were great guys, and got to know a few of them. One of the guys, Coop, had developed a close friendship with the two girls. Joey, in particular. There was no hiding the fact Coop was totally smitten with her, and it took a lot of courage...and quite a few beers and a game of Truth or Dare before she told him that she really is straight – straight as a bended pipe that is.

Ok, _told him_ was a bit of an exaggeration. More like _showed_ him, with a quick pash with Hales, after one of the other guys had told her to prove it in a dare. Safe to say Coop was slightly devastated but he was happy enough that the two of them could at least be good friends. Good enough friends that Joey had ended up telling him that that quick pash with Haley had actually extended to an hour-long make-out session later that night. But thankfully they had stopped before anything got too serious, they weren't ready for anything that came along with a relationship. Either of them. Joey still wasn't over Charlie, and Hales didn't want to hurt the both of them by being the rebound girl. After a few awkward days, Joey and Hales got over their embarrassment and decided they would be no more than friends. Joey felt extra bad because of everything going on with Charlie, and she knew that Charlie wasn't coping. Instead of dealing with her ex, Joey settled for getting in touch with Ruby to find out how everyone was. She knew she was asking a lot of Ruby to lie to Charlie, but she wasn't ready to speak to her yet.

That became glaringly obvious after a quick phone call to Ruby, had turned out with Charlie answering, and Joey hanging up on her. And then a few hours later, with the help of some alcohol, and a simple dare, her pash with Haley had occurred. Joey didn't want to admit to Haley that hearing Charlie's voice had driven her into her arms, but it didn't take Hales too long to figure it out. Hales liked Joey a lot, but respected her enough not to push anything she wasn't ready for. Besides they got along fantastically well and after a few nights opening up to one another about everything that had happened in their lives, they were comfortable enough to talk about anything, and snuggle up to each other. Joey needed that some nights. She was still having nightmares every so often about Robbo's attacks. Hales couldn't believe how strong Joey was, thinking that if she had gone through half of what Joey had, she'd be a complete wreck.

And that didn't include the stuff Joey had gone through with Charlie. Hales didn't think much of the unfaithful cop, but could see how much Joey still loved her when her eyes brightened every time she talked about her, or stared at a photo of Charlie and herself. It hurt her that a girl like Joey could still be in love with a girl that could hurt her like hell. These girls always get away with it she thought, but if that picture of Charlie and Joey was anything to go by, Hales could see they really did love each other. But was that love enough for Joey to breeze back into her ex's arms the moment she got back? Haley sighed, knowing that while she had no intentions to make a move on Joey while she was still in love with Charlie, she hoped one day in the future when Joey had clearly realized that Charlie wasn't good enough for her, that the two of them could get closer. Being with Joey was important enough for her to wait and see how things went with Charlie before making any moves.

Hales had decided to follow Joey to Summer Bay and stay with her and Coop for a while. Coop like Joey, had lived in Summer Bay, and had a spare room for her or the two of them to use. Hales wasn't sure exactly what Joey's plans were in regards to if she moved in with her and Coop or if she had planned to move straight back in with Charlie. She was kind of afraid to ask. Regardless she knew that Joey would need her support during the court case and would help anyway she could. The girls were just about drifting off to sleep, in their comfy embrace, when their cabin door slammed open.

"Hey yo, Collins, Davies, you girls ready to get off this damn boat or what?" Coop yelled out as he barged into their cabin. He stopped short when he noticed the girls embraced, cocked an eyebrow, and cheekily added, "Ok I'm just gonna go and I'll be back in five minutes to watch the make out session." The girls looked at each other, "Get him?" Hales asked. "Get him," Joey agreed. The two girls launched off the bed, throwing themselves at Coop, tackling him to the ground. The girls began to playfully beat him up, until they started laughing when he begged them to stop. "Ok, ok I'm sorry I'll you two alone in peace so you can make out if you want." Joey swatted him across the head, complaining, "Don't be such a guy, Coop." Hales giggled when Coop looked so hurt after that. The three of the untangled themselves and got up.

"So, Joey have you decided what you're going to do when we dock at Summer Bay? You gonna hang round us for a little bit longer or head over to that fine ex-girlfriend of yours?" Joey looked pained at the question, so did Hales. Coop caught on to that. Joey wasn't sure if she should go see Charlie first thing to see if they had any chance of working things out. She had a meeting with Morag that afternoon, so maybe the Charlie thing should wait until that was all over. "I'm just going to see how things go, but I'll probably stay with you guys at least for the first few nights." Haley was relieved, but didn't let Joey catch on. "Well then you girls better grab your bags and get up on deck, we'll be there soon," Coop told them.

Shortly, the three friends were standing up on the deck with all the bags, looking out to sea, and then Joey saw the land in front of them. Shivering from the cold, she stopped when Hales embraced her into a hug. "You ready for all this?" "Yeah, I'll cope, besides I've got you two knuckleheads to stop me from running away from Summer Bay again." "Don't you forget it," Hales whispered, "you know we're both here for you." "Thanks, I don't know how things will turn out, but at least I have two people I trust completely," Joey replied. "Yeah...wait you are talking about Coop and I right?" "No, Coop and that tattooed man that creeped us out up in Sydney. Yes you silly." Hales smiled, "Good 'cause I didn't decide to get off this boat and move to a brand new town for just anyone. Well here we are, you going to take me on the tour of your gorgeous town?" "For you? Anything." The three friends picked up their bags and dragged themselves onto the pier. Joey looked up, hoping, praying that maybe Charlie was still waiting for her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Joey's back in the Bay. Has everything changed?

**Chapter Five**

Joey and her friends walked to the end of the pier, watching the trawler leave. Joey couldn't believe that it had been three months since she had taken off. She felt she had changed so much over the past few months. Grown a lot more confident in herself, learning to trust her colleagues. She'd worked so hard the last few months, trying to take her mind off this day, but also spent a nice amount of time goofing around with her new friends. But what she was dying to know was how much Summer Bay had changed. Joey had no idea what expect, it had been three whole long months without the love of her life. Had Charlie changed? Did she still have feelings for her? Had she forgotten about her completely? Gotten together with Hugo, after the temporary insanity that was Charlie falling for her? Moved on to the next attractive guy that came along? These questions flowed through her mind, making her dizzy. She knew that the only way she would get some answers was to go talk to her ex-flame.

As her, Hales, and Coop reached the edge of the pier, they came across a couple guys waiting for them on the beach. Friends of Coop's apparently, she didn't really pay attention to any of the introductions. She was a little disappointed, Charlie wasn't there. Did she really expect her to be waiting there for her? She hadn't spoken to her in nearly three months, and unless Charlie had spoken to Morag she probably didn't even know she was returning today for her meeting with the lawyer. Maybe I should have called and told her I was coming back? Maybe then all her dreams would've come true. Joey had often imagined her return to the bay, Charlie waiting for her at the end of the pier, rushing over to greet her with hugs and kisses. But that was just a dream, and reality wasn't nearly as good. It was empty, and painful. There was nobody waiting for her. God why did I have to be so selfish to shut her out of my life completely since I left? She doesn't even know I'm back, it probably hasn't occurred to her that the court case begins in five days, and she'll need to meet for Morag to prep for the court case. Was she even ready to be face to face with Robbo again after everything he's done to her.

Haley noticed Joey staring off into the distance and stepped up beside her, slipping her hand in Joey's, stroking her hand. "Are you sure you're ok? You look a little pale," she commented. "Yeah I'm fine, we should probably drop our stuff off at Coop's soon, I've got that meeting with my lawyer Morag in a couple hours." "Sure no problem. Do you want a friend along with you for support or you gonna pretend to be all brave and say you'll be alright?" "I'll be alright," Joey smiled, then looked Hales in the eyes, "but I'll be more alright with you by my side." "Yeah I know. Hey Coop, can we get over to your place already Joey's got to get ready for her meeting soon?" Coop looked up from the group of guys milling around hearing all about his stories on the trawler, "Yeah no worries Davies, guys I'll catch you later tonight at Noah's for drinks," lowering his voice slightly, "I got two gorgeous girls who need my attention," he winked. The guys laughed at Coop for being such a dork, knowing full well nothing was going to happen with him and these girls.

Joey sat in one of the booths at Noah's bar, with Haley by her side, she kept fiddling with the straw and her drink, nervous as hell. She had never actually met Morag but after the few things Charlie had told her about Morag she knew she was a tough woman. She was also very good at her job, which made Joey relax a little bit. Haley sighed and moved the drink away from Joey's fiddling fingers and took hold of her hands in her own, "calm down, hun, it'll be ok." Before Joey could answer, Morag turned up in front of the two girls, and introduced herself. Joey looked around quickly wondering how Morag even knew who she was, but noticed it wasn't hard to work out when they were the only people seated in the room. Joey was glad that Alf wasn't even there, and she didn't recognise the bartender. She felt so nervous about seeing everyone again.

After introducing Haley as her friend, it didn't take Morag too long to go over the details of the case with Joey. She felt very positive they could provide enough evidence to put Robbo away for a good long time. They had enough evidence from Tanya, his ex-girlfriend whom he had previously raped and then nearly killed in a hit-and-run, to help them over the line, but Morag knew the defence lawyer would focus on one major point: Joey's sexuality. Morag had been in the business for years, helped many victims of rape, and something like a person's sexuality wasn't the big deal that some people in society deemed it to be. It didn't affect her life, so why should she matter to her or anybody else in this town. Without being the least bit obvious Morag spied the way the two girls held hands sweetly, and the way the brunette Irish girl looked at Joey. It was clear these two had a connection, and Morag was glad that they could someone on the stand to testify and confirm Joey's sexuality. Morag decided that they had gone through enough that afternoon, and arranged to meet Joey at Coop's the next day so she could assist prepping her to take the stand and what she'll go though up there. Joey looked scared at the thought of facing the judge and jury, but she knew what had to be done to get Robbo out of her life for good. It was a small price to pay.

The two girls headed down the beach to take a walk. Haley wanted to get to know the town a little more, visit Joey's favourite spot and most importantly distract her from the thoughts spinning in her head about the court case. And her thoughts about Charlie. The look on Joey's face said it all, and it broke Hales' heart knowing she'd never be the first person in Joey's mind every time she woke up and went to bed. Unrequited love really sucks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Charlie finds out Joey is back in town. What will she do?

**Chapter Six**

Charlie had been working in her office all day on the paperwork she needed to catch up on. God, did she wish something would happen today, give her some kind of action. Was it wrong to want something wrong to happen in this town so she could feel like she was doing her job? Shaking her head, she continued on with her paperwork, wanting to have it finished soon, so she could pop over to Aden's after work to check if he had heard from Joey about her return. She was actually rather annoyed when someone knocked loudly on her office door. Her colleagues had been getting on her nerves the last few days. "What?" she shouted. The door opened, and Morag strode in, not overly thrilled by the gruff greeting her step-daughter gave her. "Well, now I hope you're a bit more polite to the people you work with." "Morag, sorry I didn't realize it was you. Sorry about that, bad day," Charlie explained. "So when did you get into town? Is dad ok? Is that why you're here?" Charlie panicked for a moment. She had expected Morag to let her know when she coming down to the bay for the court case, she normally didn't just turn up unexpected.

"Your father's doing fine. He has his moments but it has been really good for him moving back to the city. I tried to call you this morning to let you know I was on my way here, but your phone was switched off." "Thank God Dad's ok, sorry you know I always panic about him. I'm glad to hear he's doing great, and I agree that you taking him to the city was the right option. I'm thankful you didn't listen to me when I wanted to look after him here. So I take it you're here for Joey's court case then. I haven't heard from her yet, but she should be back any day now, so I'll let you know as soon as she gets back. I'm actually heading over to Aden's now to find out if he's heard from her. Then you can meet her soon and help her prep for the case," Charlie said rapidly, still smiling at the thought of Joey being back soon. "Well you're a little slow off the mark Charlie, I've just come from my meeting with Joey, and I think you're right this case should be finished up shortly. The evidence against that man is –" "Wait you've already seen Joey," Charlie interrupted, "where? Did she meet you in the city?" Why would Joey go to the city to meet Morag? Unless she doesn't want to come back here, Charlie thought sadly. Morag noticed how upset Charlie had looked, but continued, "No, we had the meeting here at Noah's. She called me yesterday, and said she'd be in town today, and since you're Dad was having one of his good days, I drove down this morning. Are you ok Charlie?"

Charlie felt like her world was spinning, Joey's back in town. I could've met her this morning at the wharf but she didn't want me to know she was back, why not? Does she still hate me? Does she even care about me at all? Has she moved on? Does she want to even try again with me? Do we stand a chance of getting back together? Why, why, why did I have to be so stupid? This is all my fault. She won't talk to me and it's all because you were afraid of loving her completely. Charlie leaned back in her Charlie, while Morag watched her, surprised by how suddenly distant and solemn her step-daughter appeared after hearing that Joey was back in town. Weren't they friends? Wasn't that why Charlie had asked her to help with the case? Joey hadn't said two words about Charlie at the meeting. Morag shook her head, not even trying to begin to figure out what on earth was going.

Morag cleared her throat, "Charlie? Charlie?" "Huh, what were you saying?" Charlie finally responded. "Just that I meet with your friend today, and I think we have a good case. But she's afraid and she's going to need a lot of support." "Not mine," Charlie whispered. "Is something wrong Charlie? Not that I mind but a few months ago, you asked for my help for your friend, then you said that she had taken off on a job for a few months, and you obviously haven't spoken to her recently. Am I missing something here?" Morag inquired. "Look it doesn't matter right now, where is she?" "I'm sorry," Morag said baffled. "Joey, where did she go? Do you know where she's staying? The caravan park? Or is she staying with Aden? Did she tell you anything?" Charlie rattled off her questions one by one without stopping. "Umm she's staying at a place on Prescott St, with a co-worker and her gir –" Morag started, before Charlie interrupted not even realizing what Morag was about to say "What number? The street number Morag? Did she tell you which house?" "Of course she did, I'm meeting her there tomorrow, I'm not silly enough to not get the details...46, apartment #3," Morag eventually informed her.

Before she could blink an eye, Charlie had practically jumped out of her seat, grabbed her handbag on her desk, and breezed past her, yelling out to her colleagues, "Going home for the arvo, not feeling well. Don't call me unless someone's dying." Morag still stood there in Charlie's office completely baffled by her behaviour. Watson popped her head in the office, "Did Charlie just say something about taking off for the arvo? Is she ok?" "I honestly have no idea what's going on. I just came here to inform her that I've meet with her friend Joey Collins about the case and –" "Joey's back in town already?" Watson interrupted. Morag was getting mightily annoyed at the townsfolk who wouldn't let her finish a damn sentence. "Yes she got in this morning, the case begins in five days. Does somebody want to tell me what I'm missing here?" Watson stared at her for a second, knowing full well she so wasn't going to explain that one to the lawyer, "Well, um, I think Charlie's the um only one who can answer that. Look I got some work to get to, so..." "Very well, I'll go ask Charlie myself if she ever turns up." Morag gave up, but was surprised when she got confirmation that something was going on with Joey, this case, and Charlie. What is it, she asked herself.

Charlie run out to her car, jumped in, and started it up. Soon she found herself turning into Prescott St, pulled up on the opposite side of the road to the apartment block. Turning off the ignition she paused. Questions swirled around her head again. Should I be here? Joey doesn't want me here chasing after her, if she did, she would have contacted me. Should I bother? Is there anything worth fighting for? Before she could let the questions stop her, she found herself on the doorstep, knocking. "Breathe, just breathe" she instructed herself, "someday is something right?"

The door opened, revealing a tall, blonde, moppy-haired bloke. "Woah, ok I didn't do anything I swear. I mean, well I've been away from home for several months, and those parking tickets that are still outstanding will get paid soon promise, I didn't think they were that serious to send someone out to collect," Coop rambled. Charlie barely heard a word he said, something about unpaid parking fines, oh right she thought to herself, still in uniform. "Um no, I'm not on duty, I'm ah actually here to see Jo, um Joey. Where is, I mean is she here?" she finally got out. God she was so nervous, and she wasn't even talking to Joey. "Oh right, not here for me. That's too bad," Coop looked disappointed, "Joey right, well she had a meeting earlier with her lawyer, but I don't know if it's over. Maybe she went to show Hales around the town." "Hales??" Charlie didn't like the sound of that. "Uh yeah Haley, she worked with the two of us on the trawler, decided to stick in town for a while." Charlie turned and started off across the front yard, back to her car, but turned when Coop yelled out to her. "You're Charlie aren't you? Joey kind of mentioned you...a lot. Just so you know, she's not over you. I may not know you but if you ever hurt her again I'm gonna kill you like a chicken sweetie," he smiled jokingly.

Charlie found herself walking along the beach. "She's not over you," she kept repeating those words in her head, "she's not over you." God did she want to believe that with all her heart. Did he mean it? Did he also mean the chicken part? She almost giggled at that, but straightened up, knowing he wasn't the only one that expected her to screw up again. Charlie was back to smiling at the thought that Joey had mentioned her to her workmates. "Hope it wasn't only the bad stuff," she said to herself. She kept walking through the sand, with her shoes in her hands, she wasn't even concentrating on where she was walking, or noticing any of the people walking past her. Suddenly something finally grabbed her attention. "Yeah I think the meeting went well, I just hope that I can cope with all of this," came a voice. Charlie was ecstatic. "I know that voice," she whispered to herself. Looking up, she saw Joey and another girl sitting on the sand, talking. "Hey, you'll be fine and I'll support you all the way," said the other girl, then to Charlie's dismay she wrapped her arms around Joey's shoulders. "Joey, I..." Charlie started not even realizing the words were coming out of her mouth. Joey turned around at the sound of her name being called out behind her, shocked to see Charlie standing behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Our girls finally sit down and have the talk - the awkward seeing your ex-girlfriend for the tirst time talk that is. How will it go?

**Chapter Seven**

"So..." began Joey, not knowing where to start. The two girls were seated in the kitchen at Leah's house. After they had bumped into one another on the beach, Joey had asked Haley to excuse them while they talked. Haley headed back to Coop's disappointed, and Charlie and Joey walked back to Leah's in silence. Thankfully the place was deserted, with Leah at work, and Ruby and VJ at school. Joey sat down as Charlie made them some coffee. Placing the cups into front of the, Charlie sat down opposite her, sighing. She had waited for this moment for three whole months, and now they were both here, and she had no idea what to say to her former girlfriend. Joey began again, "So...how is everyone? Leah, Ruby, little VJ?" Charlie looked into her eyes, trying not to get lost in them, "Yeah they're all really good. They've missed you a lot. Especially Ruby, you were like a 2nd sister to her." Joey sadly relied, "Sorry about that. I know I should have told them myself. I just needed to get away from...everything and the job came up unexpectedly fast. I wasn't sure if there'd be another job going so I just..." "Needed to take off from everything...me," Charlie finished for her, feeling so awkward sitting here with Joey. When did things become this difficult that I can't even have a proper conversation with her?

"Charlie, it wasn't just about you, ok, after everything with Robbo and Brett I just needed to get away. And yes the Hugo thing did kind of top it off and make my decision for me, but it was the toughest decision of my life. Leaving you I mean. I wanted to stay so badly, but I knew it wouldn't work. You can't force something to happen, if it's meant to be it'll happen no matter the forces stopping it.," Joey stated confidently. "And is this, uh us, meant to be?" Charlie asked, terrified of what the answer might be. Joey thought about the question for a moment, knowing that she had to be honest with Charlie as well as herself, or they'd both end up getting hurt. "Right now at this moment, no. I'm not ready for anything more than friendship. I need to concentrate on the court case, if I let myself be distracted then I know I won't be ready to be on that stand and tell the jury everything that happened with Robbo. I'm not saying no Charlie I'm just saying I need some time, but maybe someday..." she sighed not knowing how to finish. "Someday huh? Someday is something" Charlie revealed the mantra that had kept her going. "Yeah, exactly" Joey agreed.

Charlie cleared her throat and took a sip of coffee, "Does this mean you'll be staying in town for a while, after the trial?" "I'll see how things go, depends if I can get another job, local job I mean. But for now yes I'm sticking around." Charlie smiled, "Good, it will give us a chance to get things back on track. That is if you want to try, after the trial. I know how badly I hurt you but I need you to know that my life has been awful without you. Need you back, Jo." "Charlie, I..." Joey was speechless. She wanted to hear those words from Charlie, and dreamed of this moment every night while out at sea. "I know ok, I'm not pushing, I just...wanted you to know." "Thanks." Charlie leaned over and placed her hand over Joey's entangling their fingers, the girls found themselves staring into one another's eyes.

Before she could stop herself, Charlie tried ever so casually to ask if Joey was going to be moving back in with her, "because that would um be fine, well I mean if you're not ready I can sleep on the couch or crash with Ruby. I mean I know you're staying with um that English or Irish or _whatever_ girl and that guy who I bumped into at the apartment, but I just you know wanted you to know there's still a place here for you and you ah don't need to you know stay with her – _them_, I mean them – if you don't have to..." She trailed off. Idiot she thought to herself, just when everything is going ok, I had to ruin it by mentioning that girl. How could I not ask? It nearly killed me seeing them together. Surely Joey knows I needed answers. Joey stared at Charlie. She always did that, ruined a perfectly good moment out of what jealousy? "That _whatever_ girls' name is Haley, and she has been the one person that kept me going when I was alone out there Charlie. She's the reason I had the courage to come back here to face Robbo and you. So to answer the question you asked, yes I am ok living with Hales and Coop for the meantime. Since you managed to ruin the first sign of happiness between us, why don't you just ask me what you really want to know about Hales?"

Joey could feel the anger rising up in her. She hadn't of thought of Charlie as the jealous type, and she knew she did not have to justify her relationship with Haley to Charlie. After everything we've been through does she honestly think I could move on so quickly? That she meant nothing to me? Doesn't she know how much I still love her? Charlie fiddled with her coffee cup. Why the hell did I just bring this up? God she looks so hurt I just want to hug her, but no I can't do that, especially if she's moved on and fallen for someone else. Can you blame her? I mean really, after the crap you put her through by cheating on her with Hugo. She deserves to be happy, that's all that matters. Good why can't she just be happy with me?

"Well, Um are the two of you...? Cause I saw how she was hugging you at the beach, it's obvious there's something going on between you two. I'm not going to get insanely jealous if you have moved on," (_God I so am_) "I just want you to know that you should be happy Jo and if that's with this girl then I...I'll support you. And you're right I shouldn't have brought this up, but I just need to know if you mean it. When you said 'someday.'" Charlie sighed. Why did this have to be so hard? Shouldn't love conquer all? Joey could see how stressed out Charlie looked, the past three months hadn't done her well. She looked so tired, her skin didn't shine, and her hair was a bit of a mess. "Charlie, you can relax ok, the answer's not going to kill you. Of course, Hales and I aren't together. Yes we do have a connection but there's kind of this beautiful ex-girlfriend of mine that I'm not quite over yet. And she's why I can't move on and be happy with a perfectly nice girl, who yes probably has feelings for me, but we both trust each other completely to know that nothing will ever happen between us while you're still in my heart."

Awww Charlie so badly wanted to kiss her then, but then Joey caught the 'ruining-a-perfectly-good-moment' bug. "I didn't want to um assume, but are you and Hugo...or I mean are you still...?" Charlie nearly spilt her coffee. Me and Hugo? Is she serious? "God no. No, definitely not, no to that question about Hugo. I have barely spoken to the guy since you left, so no I'm not with Hugo. Or any other guy – or girl – for that matter. Nope, no one, me single." Ahhh would you talk properly she yelled at herself. "No I'm not seeing anybody, and I haven't even thought about anyone else since you left..." Ok that was a bit better, but way to go looking like a total dork, you fool. "Good. Well that's...good." Finishing up her coffee, Joey suddenly noticed the time. "I should really get going. Coop wants to have drinks at Noah's tonight as kind of a welcome home thing, and I should get back home, to his place I mean, to get ready, and also check that Haley got back ok. She's got a really bad sense of direction." "Couldn't even tempt you with another cup of really bad coffee could I?" Charlie hoped. "Can we take a rain check on that bad coffee thing?" Charlie nodded. "Besides I was hoping to pop over to the diner to say hi to Leah, and everyone. School's out so I'm sure Ruby will be there. Maybe catch up with Aden and invite him to Noah's tonight."

Aden? She wants Aden at her welcome home thing but not me. Don't get jealous Charlz, she and Aden are good friends, he missed her, besides that girl will probably be there and Joey is just trying to spare me the pain of watching them together... "You're welcome to come along too," Joey invited, "I mean if you don't have any plans for tonight because if you do that's fine, I wouldn't expect you to just drop everything because... It'll just be a good chance to catch up again, I think I'm going to be busy the next few days working with Morag, so it might be the last chance we get before the trial. Sorry I ramble when I'm nervous," she admitted. Charlie smiled, "Yeah I noticed. I'd love to come. If you're sure you want me there." "Of course I want you there. I'll see you at Noah's at around 9 pm." "Can't wait," Charlie said giddily. Joey got up, leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, before walking out the back door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Joey catches up with some of the other residents of Summer Bay, and Charlie gets ready for her night out.

**Chapter Eight **

The diner was packed busy when Joey stopped by. She was nervous about seeing everybody again. But I guess it couldn't be worse than seeing Charlie again right. She walked in and headed over to the counter, before she could even get halfway there, she heard an overjoyed Ruby yelling her name. Looking over to the direction of the yelling she spotted Ruby sitting at one of the tables with Xavier, Annie and Nicole. Ruby ran straight over to her, throwing her arms around Joey in a hug. "Geez it's good to see you too Rubes." Xavier laughed at their display, Nicole was amused at how happy Ruby looked, and Annie didn't really care much for Joey. She didn't approve of Joey's "lifestyle" or the idea of her and Charlie together. It went against all her beliefs. But she was hardly going to tell Joey that, and excused herself to go find Jai. Leah came out to the counter from the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. When she saw Joey been embraced by Ruby, she headed over to greet the girl as well.

Before long, Joey was seated at the table telling Leah, Ruby, and her friends about her adventures for the past few months. Ruby and Leah were a little upset that she didn't bother to let them know that she was coming back, or that she wasn't going to be staying with them for the time being. A few more people joined them, as Kirsty, Miles, Rachel and Belle came over to welcome her back. Colleen kept milling about the table trying to listen in on the conversation, trying to catch some gossip so she could be the first to tell Madge Wilkins. Irene had to call her away from the table a few times. Joey was getting a little embarrassed by all the attention.

Xavier could sense that Ruby was dying to know if Joey was back for Charlie, as she kept fiddling with her hands. "So Joey," he piped up, "I'm sure you're adventures were riveting but I'm sure there's something else we're all dying to know about, or at least Ruby here is. You and Charlie: what's going on?" Joey blushed embarrassed by the attention they all paid to her answer, still amazed that everyone seemed to know and support them as a couple. "Well I ran into her on the beach, and we had some coffee back at your place, but we're just going to take things slow and see how things go. I'm staying with my friends and really need to concentrate on the court case for the moment. Speaking of which, I hate to love you and leave you but I need to get back to my friends. We're planning on having some drinks at Noah's later tonight, so for those of you over 18 you're more than welcome to join us and invite anyone else to come along." Ruby started sulking that it wasn't fair she couldn't come along because she was too young. "Are you sure Charlie can't let me off the hook and let me come?" she begged Joey. "Sorry kiddo we'll catch up another time promise."

Joey exited the diner, happy that everyone seemed to welcome her back with open arms. Aden was walking towards the Diner, and was surprised to see Joey exiting the restaurant. He was glad to see she was back, he'd missed her when she had suddenly taken off. Sneaking up behind his friend, he grabbed her by the waist and picked her up, spinning her around into a hug. "Aden, dang it put me down already," she smiled, happy that he was pleased to see her again. She'd missed his protectiveness of her. "Man, I've missed you Jo," he said as he finally put her down, embracing her in another hug.

"Kinda missed you too, Aden. Ok having trouble breathing here," she said breathlessly. "Right sorry, oxygen good. So what the hell Joey, ya don't write, ya don't call, what's that about?" "Sorry _Dad, _I was too busy working to get in touch with everybody. Didn't think you'd be that worried about me." "Are you kidding me, missed you like crazy. This town's been so boring without you." "Yeah right." "No I'm serious, we've missed you out on the boat. Really wished you had've told me you were after a job, Gibbsy was about to offer you your old job back when you took off." "Yeah, sorry about that things were kinda crazy and when things get tough I bail. Old habits die hard I guess." "So when did you get back? Are you back for good?" he asked enthusiastically. "Today and I'm not sure yet. I'm here for the trial, which starts in a few days, then I guess I'll see how things go." "And does Charlie have anything to do with these 'seeing how things go'?" ""We'll see." "So where you headed?" "Um back to my friend's place, worked with him on the trawler, and I'm crashing at his place." "Well I was meant to meet Belle, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I walked you back to your place." "Sure, that'd be nice." After Aden, went into the Diner to let Belle know, he and Joey walked back her place, with each of them telling the other about the last few months.

"Charlie," Ruby yelled out as she got home. Charlie was in her room trying to pick out her outfit for that night, and came rushing out to see what was wrong. "What is it? What's wrong?" she said as she met Ruby in the lounge. "Well? What happened?" "Ruby slow down, what are you talking about?" "Come on Charlz. Joey? You saw her right. I mean she said you did. Give me the details? I mean she said that you two were taking things slow which is good because as much as I love you two together I'm still a bit icky about the whole 'too much information' you guys tell me," Ruby rambled, with Charlie barely able to keep up. "Slow down, Rubes, we talked is all. And yes we're going to take things slow. She needs to learn to trust me again, and I need to prove to her that I can be with her completely. But there's also kinda this..." She sat down on the couch, and Ruby did the same. "There's this girl, Rubes." "Joey's seeing somebody. I don't understand. How? You just said the two of you are taking things slowly." "Well she's not seeing this girl but... They worked together on the boat while she was away, and now they're staying together, and she's cute, and when I saw them on the beach, the cute girl was hugging Joey, and Joey said nothing's going on, but I saw the way she was looking at Joey, and the way she looked at me when Joey told her she needed to speak to me alone, and...and...I'm afraid that I'm going to lose her."

Ruby leaned over, pulling her big sister into a quick hug. "You won't lose her ok. She loves you. I know that, she knows that and so do you. She wouldn't be back here if she didn't want to give things a try. And who cares about this cute girl when she's got the hottest girl who loves her." "You sure?" "Totally. Now are you going to Noah's tonight?" Charlie nodded. "Great, then let's find you something gorgeous to wear. It's about time you really fought for her. Joey won't know what hit her when she sees you tonight," Ruby said happily. "Calm down a bit Rubes, it's not like this is a date or anything, just some drinks with Joey, the cute girl, her flatmate, and half the town." "Well then I guess you're going to look stunning in front of the whole town. I'm serious Charlz we need to make a start now if we're going to have you ready in time." "Thanks Ruby. Not just for this I mean, everything. You've been so great supporting me the last few months when Joey was away. I know I was an absolute pain to put up with when I was without Joey. Even before that, when I first told you about us, ok it took some time but you really supported me. You were the one person I was terrified of telling about Joey and I. Because I knew I couldn't do this without you." Ruby hugged her again, "You're welcome. Oh and Charlz you've always been a pain to put up with, but I wouldn't have my big sister any other way." "Love you too Ruby."


	9. Chapter 9

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Charlie runs into an old _friend_ at the party at Noah's. Will the evening go as planned?

**Chapter Nine**

"It's not a date, it is not a date," Charlie murmured under her breath as she got out of her car and walked towards the Surf Club. "Just two friends hanging out for some drinks, that is if I can steal her away from Haley long enough to talk to her alone. Not to mention the other bunch of people wanting to catch up with her." Looking at her watch, she realized it was already 9:30 pm. Crap you're late, she's probably thinking you've chickened out or spent too much time trying to look perfect. Ok I guess you did spend too much time picking out your clothes, she thought to herself sheepishly. Walking into the Surf Club, she headed over to the bar, scanning the room quickly but didn't see Joey. She noticed Martha and Leah at the bar ordering drinks and headed over, but without looking she bumped into someone.

Steadying herself after nearly falling over, she looked up to see that the person was Hugo. Of all the people in the world, why was he here? Who in their right mind would have invited him to Joey's welcome back party? He was, after all, one of the reasons she left. "Woah there Charlie, you alright?" he smarmed. "Fine," she snapped. Trying to move away from him, she was shocked when he held her back by moving into her way again, "You know you're looking pretty hot tonight, Charlie, trying to impress someone are we? Let me buy you a drink." "I don't think so, and even if I am trying to impress someone, it sure as hell ain't you," she stated coldly. "Well now that's a bit harsh, we had a great time together didn't we? That night on the beach was so amazingly good. We'd make a pretty hot couple, so whata ya say you forget about that whole sexuality confusion thing, and get back together with me? Come on Charlie, I think we all know that there's no way you're gay. You need a real man who can take care of you." Charlie felt sick inside, she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She couldn't believe that he was saying all these things, and looking over she could see Martha and Leah eying her suspiciously. Standing up for herself, she confidently said, "You know what Hugo, even if you were right, I would never want a man like you. And just so we're clear, that night at the beach, was the worst night of my life. You do realize the entire time with you I was thinking about Joey, that she is so much better at making love than you, and I had to fake it to get you the hell away from me." Hugo felt so embarrassed being trashed in front of Martha, who looking on had burst out laughing at his expense. The jerk had developed feelings for her, and in his warped mind, thought getting back with Charlie would make Martha jealous. Before he could say anything else to embarrass Charlie more, she told him: "Save it Hugo I'm NOT interested. And for God's sake, go home and take a shower. Dude, you smell like ass." At that Hugo walked off, completely humiliated, but knew he totally deserved it. Charlie was right, "I do kinda smell like ass."

_(Author's Note – Hugo walks down to the beach, so completely drunk, and decides to take a swim. He drowns and gets eaten by a shark, never to be heard from again. A fitting end to THED – The Happy Ending Destroyer)._

Charlie turned around, and made her way over to Martha and Leah. "Well you sure showed him," Martha giggled, "Bout time too." Charlie started laughing too, and then she finally saw Joey staring at her from across the room. She was tucked away sitting in one of the booths, along with Aden and Haley. Haley was sitting a little too close for comfort and was holding onto Joey's hand. Joey continued staring at Charlie; she couldn't believe that Charlie had just stood up for her like that and told Hugo where to go. She giggled when she had told him that her night with him was the worst night of her life, almost wishing she had of told her all that back before she took off. Or maybe it would have been better if she told Hugo he smelt before she let him sleep with her. She motioned for Charlie to join them, but Charlie hesitated not sure if she wanted to spend the evening watching Haley making moves on Joey. But then again, she didn't want to give up the opportunity to get closer to Joey again. Still standing there, she was surprised when Leah swatted her in the arm and demanded that she "get on over there and get your girl back." Martha also encouraged her to "stop staring at the girl holding Joey's hand and go make sure you're the one she wants to go home with tonight."

Feeling a little bit stronger, she firstly went up to the bartender and ordered a couple glasses of white wine. Taking the glasses over to the booth, she smiled, and placed one of the glasses in front of Joey, "Glass of wine for milady," before sitting down next to Aden. "Thanks," Joey said sweetly. Haley cleared her throat and looked at Joey's wine. "Oh! I'm sorry. Did you want-" Charlie started holding out her glass to offer it, but Haley shook her head. "No, it's quite alright." "'Cause I could always..." Charlie said as she pointed to the bar indicating she could go get another. "No, really it's fine," Hales insisted. Aden shook his head after ping-ponging his head from one side to the other, watching the interaction between the two girls. How they manage to turn one glass of wine into a sparring match of Joey's heart was beyond him? Girls! "I don't believe we really got the chance to introduce ourselves at the beach, I'm Charlie Buckton," she said as she held out her hand. "Haley. Davies," Haley said hesitantly taking Charlie's hand and shaking it. Joey could sense the tension between the girls. Are they fighting over me? Seriously what is going on here? It's like they're vying for my attention. "Sorry I should have started the introductions. It's just I didn't um..." Joey paused. "Didn't want us to meet," Haley whispered as she sipped the last of her drink.

Charlie stared at Haley for a second, shrugging off the comment. No way is she gonna tempt me into a fight, and make me look like the bad guy. "So Haley, Joey told me you met on the trawler. What brought you to Australia and why'd you decide to dock here in Summer Bay?" Aden pitched in, "Yeah I mean, of all the places in the world you had to come here to our little over-dramatic town." "Well I'm enjoying it so far, not too much drama yet. I moved to Australia with my family a few years back, got sick of the boring city life and packed it all in for a job on the boat. And as to why I'm staying here? I thought that'd be a bit obvious. Joey needs all the support from her friends through this court case, and I figured I could lend a hand." "I think she's coping quite fine, aren't you Jo?" Charlie fired back. Joey looked at both the girls, then briefly at Aden with a '_Help me!_' expression on her face. Aden couldn't leave her hanging and stated that he didn't think that "Joey wants to be talking about the case tonight. We're here to celebrate Joey being back in the Bay. All that other stuff can wait until tomorrow when you meet up with Morag again." Joey whispered a soft "Thanks," and Aden nodded his head, "'Tis what I'm here for," before he suddenly got dragged away by Coop and his pals to play a game of pool with him, and get the low down on what was going on with the girls.

"Actually Joey if you don't mind, I did want to talk to you about the case. After the claim from your brother I was officially removed from the case, but I'd still like to help," Charlie stated. "Uh sure, how exactly did you mean by help?" Joey questioned. "Well if it's okay with you I want to stand up in front of the jury and tell everyone about us. About our relationship. About the relationship we have – had. You know because Morag was concerned that the defence was going to argue that in their case, that there's no proof that you're you know gay. Or not, I don't have to I mean if you don't want. That's fine." Internally Charlie was shaking her head. Why am I even putting myself through this? Am I even ready for this I mean really ready? I can barely talk right now about us, let alone stand in front of a jury and tell them all about our relationship. They'll want to know why she left, why I couldn't convince her to stay, why I was so terrified of what loving her meant in regards to my sexuality and my life. It had nothing to do with her. How can I convince a jury of that when I can't even convince Joey?

Joey could see from the expression on Charlie's face that she wanted to believe what she was saying, but she was struggling to convince herself that she could be 100% open about their relationship to everyone. Guess things haven't changed as much as I thought. Before she could respond, Haley did the honours. "That sounds totally encouraging, Charlz but I'm afraid you won't have to put yourself through that. Morag's already asked me to stand before the jury and confirm Joey's sexuality," she said proudly. "You? How would you be able to prove anything? What are you going to lie under oath and say you two are together?" Charlie demanded. "What's there to lie about, Charlz?" Hales insisted pointing to her hand entangled with Joey's. Charlie's heart began to break, "Jo...Joey I thought you said that you weren't...why are you doing this?" Joey couldn't take it anymore, "Ok that's enough you two," pulling her hand away from Hales, "to make this clear to the both of you – I'm not with anyone right now. And the way you are both acting doesn't make me want to be with either of you. All I know is that for some insane reason the court thinks I need someone to be on that stand to verify my sexuality, not claim that they are currently my girlfriend. I'm not gonna choose who that'll be. I'm not going to decide between my best friend and my ex-girlfriend, that's insane logic. I'm gonna leave it up to you girls to decide who wants to support me because right now I really don't care! So why don't you girls figure it out and when you do let me know!" Joey grabbed her handbag, got up and walked over to Aden, asking him to join her for a walk down at the beach.

Hales and Charlie just stared at her as she left. Did she seriously just do that? How the hell am I meant to convince this girl that I'm the right person to help Joey? Both girls sat there thinking the same thing.


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for all your reviews guys! Keep 'em coming!

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Aden tries to convince Joey to give Charlie a second chance, while Charlie and Haley talk about their feelings for Joey.

**Chapter Ten**

Joey was pretty upset when her and Aden took off down at the beach. As they got down near the wharf Joey stood there with her back turned from him, sobbing. "Hey," he pulled her into a hug, "it's okay." "No it's not. Why did I even think I could come back here and things would just be normal with Charlie? Go back to the way they were. I know that she's trying, but she's just trying too hard and it's pushing me away. And Haley, I have no idea what's going through her head right now. They were practically sitting there begging for me to choose one of them. I knew there would be some tension between them. Hales knows all about what Charlie did and she's trying to use it to her advantage, and get me to like her or something. Charlie is just trying to get me back which is what she thinks she wants," Joey sobbed.

Aden let go of her, but this time tried comforting her with his words, "You don't think that Charlie really wants to be with you? That she's not going to do whatever it takes to win you back? Charlie's been an absolute wreck since you left, and now that you're back I know she's going to do everything possible to get you back. She's changed so much over the last few months. Ok so a part of her still gives a damn about what this town label her, but it doesn't mean she's not willing to be 100% committed to a relationship with you. You just need to give her a chance to prove that," he said supportably. "I know. After everything we've been through, I do need to give her a chance, but I can't take the risk that if I do, it all happens again. One bad day and she'll go racing into the arms of the first guy she meets. I don't know how to begin to trust her again when Hugo's always going to be around." (_Author's note - Oh he won't be, he's all dead now – see Chapter 9_) "If it's not Hugo, it'll be someone else, Roman, Angelo. Maybe I should just move on with my life and get over her. It'll hurt less." I cannot believe I'm even saying this, she thought. "Move on huh. What with Haley? What about Charlie?" he questioned. "What about Charlie. Don't look at me like that Aden. Besides what's wrong with Haley? She's been good to me the past few months. She's supportive, cute, funny, loving." Aden sighed "You're right there's nothing wrong with Haley except for one thing: she's not Charlie. You can't give up on her Jo, she means too much to you. I get that it'll take some time for you to learn to trust her again. Don't give up on her yet. You'll regret it if you do." Aden pulled her into another hug.

When Charlie saw Joey run away from her, she went to grab her purse and got up from the booth, intending to rush after her, but Haley stood up and grabbed her arm holding her back. "I don't think so sister, leave her alone," stated Hales. "You have no idea how much you've just hurt her, so don't you even dare go near her." "Like you're going to stop me. Do even realize who you're talking to? I'm a cop, so get out of my way," Charlie said standing up for herself. "Oh honey you have no idea how much I'm in your way. And you know what I know exactly who I'm talking to. I'm talking to the lying cow that thinks she can just worm her way back into Joey's life after a few simple apologies," Haley declared. At this point most of the guests were looking at their outburst. Coop tried to interrupt, "Hales maybe you should just back off for a sec." "I'm not finished yet Coop," and turning her attention back to Charlie, "You have no idea how broken she was while she was away. You weren't there for her at all while she was crying herself to sleep at night. No you were probably off getting drunk and crying on the shoulder of the first bloke who would look twice at you. Joey deserves so much better than you. I mean let's face it; you're so not ready to be in a proper relationship with her. You can't even go two seconds without talking with the guy you cheated on her with, and you certainly don't have the guts to stand up in front of a jury and confess whatever feelings you think you have for her."

Charlie couldn't take it anymore. Standing there, being embarrassed by this girl in front of what seemed like the entire town. She felt awful, it was only a few minutes ago that she had done the same to Hugo, and that wasn't with everyone listening in. She was afraid that Haley was right. That she didn't have the strength to stand up for her relationship with Joey. Suddenly Haley sat down, picked up Joey's unfinished wine and drank the rest of it. She looked up at Charlie who was still standing there frozen; they both had tears forming in their eyes. "Look I'm sorry okay, I'm just confused about everything that's going on right now," Haley said defeated. Feeling bad for the girl Charlie sat back down, "I know. I'm sorry too." Seeing both girls talking again normally, the rest of the people in the bar went back to their conversations. "After what I did, and you're apologising to me? Did you miss the screaming match we just had?" Haley said.

Charlie looked at the girl in front of her, the way she was sitting, the way she had acted just now. "You like her don't you," Charlie commented. It wasn't a question. "Yeah, I do," Hales replied. "Tell me about her," Charlie asked, and when Haley cocked her head as if to ask "Huh?" Charlie clarified, "When you first met her, what was she like over the months I missed?" "When I first met her on the trawler I thought she was amazing. She was just standing there, in her cute little beanie, wearing this gray top thing, and I think she had jeans on. And I thought...well that she was really hot. Really hot. She gave me a smile. She was beautiful. I just knew I had to get to know her. When we hung out and really started to get to know each other I thought I had a chance, but I knew deep down she was holding back. One night I found her lying in her bed, she was having a nightmare about Robbo. I spent the night comforting her, and she finally opened up and told me everything she'd been through. With her parents, her brother, Robbo, and..." "Me?" Charlie finished. "Yeah," Hales admitted, "When I decided to join Joey here I knew that she would probably go running back into your arms. I didn't want her to. I wanted her to see that you made one of the biggest mistakes of your life, and you didn't deserve her back. That she had someone who would care about her, that wasn't confused about their feelings at all. Someone that could love her like she deserves...but she doesn't love me," Hales admitted, gutted as she knew it was the truth.

Haley got up to leave, looking Charlie straight in the eyes she pleaded, "Don't hurt her okay?" Charlie looked up at the girl, who had tears streaming down her face, "I won't, I promise." Haley took off, leaving the Surf Club. Charlie sat there feeling so bad for the girl. Being in love with Joey, and not been able to be with her, I know that feeling well, Charlie thought to herself. Leah noticed Charlie sitting all alone and walked over to join her friend. "You ok?" she asked. "What? Oh yeah I guess." "So what was that all about before with Haley? I saw Joey take off, things didn't go well did they?" Leah put her arm around Charlie's shoulders. "Not as well as I had of hoped. But Haley's gonna back off for a while and let Joey and I try and sort things out on our own." "Well that's good isn't it? You girls will be back together in no time, and once the court case is settled, I'm sure she'll be back home with you, where she belongs." "I really hope so Leah, I do, but...but now's the hart part. Winning her back. I need to stand up in front of the whole court and tell them exactly how I feel." "And how do you feel about her, honestly?" Leah pushed. "I love her...completely," Charlie confessed. "Then tell the jury that. But you ah, might want to let Joey in on that before you do." Leah wrapped Charlie in a hug, hoping she had convinced her that she needed to do the right thing to get her soul mate back.


	11. Chapter 11

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Charlie finally reveals how she really feels to Joey. How will she react?

**Chapter Eleven**

The next morning, Charlie got up early, and went for a nice long jog along the beach. The same thoughts swirled her mind since last night. She'd barely gotten any sleep the night before. But she decided what she needed to do. It'll be worth it in the end, she thought happily. After a quick shower, and a call into work to tell them she'll be late, she headed over to Coop's house. Although knowing that Morag would probably be there prepping Joey with her case, but hoping that at least Coop and Hales would have made themselves scarce, Charlie didn't care. Knocking on the door, she suddenly felt nervous again. Joey answered the door, surprised to see her. Hales wouldn't explain what had happened after Joey had left the previous night; she just wanted to curl up and cry herself to sleep. She was gone by the time Joey got up that morning. Too preoccupied with having to prepare for the court case with Morag, she hadn't had a chance to get a hold of either girl to find out what was going on.

Before Joey could explain that it wasn't the best time, Charlie breezed into the apartment with a quick greeting, "Hi." "Why hello Charlie," Morag said, rather annoyed. She was seated at the dining table, with plenty of papers and books in front of her. She specifically informed Joey that the two of them should work together on the case details alone without distraction so was surprised to see her step-daughter interrupt them. "Is there something we can help you with?" "Actually I really need to talk to Joey for a moment, if you don't mind. I know you're busy on the case but this will only take a moment, and it might effect this case, and as I was on my way over here I worked out exactly what I was going to say and now I'm here I've completely forgotten what it was, but that doesn't matter because I'm here now and I can't just leave without saying what I need to say. Morag you should probably stay here for this because you're going to find out in a few days anyway, so it might as well be now --" "Charlie!" Joey finally shouted, "Slow down ok. What's going on?" "Charlie, I don't know what's going on here but would you just say whatever it is you want to say so we can back to our work. If it's not important I suggest you wait 3 days until the case is over." "Charlie maybe Morag's right, this should probably wait until everything's cleared up with the case and we have some time to --" Joey said.

"No okay, I need to say this now, or it'll be too late," Charlie insisted. Morag looked at Joey, and Joey nodded, "Ok but can we please sit down for this," Joey said. "Sure," Charlie said, as Joey and Morag moved to sit on the couch. Charlie leaned on the edge of one of the chairs opposite Joey. Joey leant forward and took her hands in her own trying to calm her down. Morag looked on at their actions, and before Charlie had even said a word she had a pretty good idea what was going on. Joey swallowed hard, not sure if she wanted to hear what Charlie was going to say. I've been waiting three months for this moment, the one where she's either going to break my heart or tell me she wants to be with me 100%. Joey could see that Charlie was struggling to find the words, so started for her, "Is this about last night with Haley? What happened?" "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Jo...I..." Charlie began. Joey didn't want to hear anymore, she let go of Charlie's hands, "I don't want to hear anything else, Charlie. I don't want the speech okay I can see it in your eyes, and I've heard it all before from you. I just ask one last favour from you: If you're gonna break my heart, do it fast."

"Wait what?" Charlie stood up pulling Joey to stand up in front of her. Morag looked up at them, and interrupted to say she'll just be in the kitchen to give them some time. "Morag I need to explain this to you as well," Charlie stated. "I can wait Charlie, I can see you two need a moment, so I'll just make us some coffee...or something," she said as she walked off. The moment she was gone, Charlie turned back to Joey. "Jo what I said before about been sorry, I wasn't going to break your heart. I've done that once before and have regretted it ever since. I was apologising for everything. I mean everything I've put you through. Since the moment we first met, and I realized I had feelings for you, when I pushed you away. You kept believing in me – in us – and told me I was pretending to be someone I'm not. It took a long time, too long, for me to admit I had feelings for you, and I couldn't believe how happy I was with you. It felt right, Jo it did." Joey interrupted, "Charlz, you don't need to do this." "Yes I do. I screwed everything up when I was with Hugo and I didn't have the guts to tell you the truth. I'd do anything to take that back. I mean it. But to top it all off my biggest mistake was letting you go. I never should have done that, and I promise you if you give me another chance I will never let you go again. Just pre-warning you but you'll probably get sick of me soon enough. I want you back in my life Jo, I need you. I'll stand up in that court room and tell everyone the truth about us, if you'll let me. I don't care what anyone says about me, as long as I've got you by my side, we'll get through this. _Someday is something_ right? I'm tired of somedays passing us by, I want this day to be _our someday_. I love you Joey, always and forever," Charlie declared.

Joey stood there stunned beyond belief. This is exactly what she wanted and had dreamed of for three months, and now that Charlie had told her all the things she'd been dying to hear, she wished she had actually took the time in her dreams to hear herself replying. 'Cause she was completely lost for words. Charlie stood there, very anxious at the fact that Joey hadn't said a single word. "Was that too much? Too soon? Joey if you don't say something soon you're gonna start to hurt my feelings a little here," Charlie said begging her to decide what she wanted. "I um, I'm kinda lost for words. You wouldn't believe how many times I've imagined you saying this, how each speech would be slightly different but the same in the end. I spent too much time imagining your speech, I kinda didn't think what I would want to say." "Take your time," Charlie said sweetly, but honestly thinking, please don't, I can't bare to wait any longer, I need an answer now. "You know what," Joey finally said, "there is nothing I want to say right now..." The look on Charlie's face nearly broke her heart, as Charlie let go of her hands and let her arms drop to the side, completely defeated. I knew I shouldn't have pushed this, she told me to wait until after the court case, but no instead I had to walk in here with my big speech and – "Charlie!" – Joey's voice interrupted her thoughts. Joey took her hands again, "What I was going to say if you would let me, is that I can't say how I feel right now...but I can show you..."


	12. Chapter 12

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: M

Summary: Charlie and Joey sort things out, how will Morag react to her stepdaughters' relationship? As Joey concentrates on the trial, will the girls cope being away from each other for a few days?

**Chapter Twelve**

For the first time in a few minutes Charlie looked hopeful, the two girls stood there staring into one another's eyes. Finally breaking their stance, Joey leaned forward and lightly kissed Charlie on the lips. The kiss was brief, but still passionate, and when Joey pulled away, she rested her forehead against Charlie. "Wow," she whispered, "that was..." "I know," Charlie finished. Joey leaned forward again, pushed her lips against Charlie's. Three months later and she could still get lost in her sweet taste. The kiss quickly deepened, but they were suddenly interrupted by a third presence in the room. Morag cleared her throat, as the two girls pulled apart clearly embarrassed. "Morag, we were just...um," Charlie tried to think of something to say. Morag took off her glasses, and smiled, "Well now that's sorted, can we get back to work here young Joey?"

Morag sat down as the two girls stood there gobsmacked at her reaction. One of the town's most respected matriarch's didn't even bat an eyebrow, "That was a beautiful speech now Charlie, I hope you memorized it because that would work well if you're intending to say something on Joey's behalf at the court case." "Um, uh Morag you don't seem very surprised by this, um us I mean," Charlie pointed out. "Why should I be Charlie? It's been pretty obvious from the start that there was something going on, and your father realized that over the past few times you've visited you've been very anxious and closed off. He knew you were struggling with something, but wanted to wait until you were ready to talk about it. Now we really need to get onto this trial business so I hope you don't mind but from what I gathered from that speech of yours Charlie, you've waited three months to win young Joey back, so I don't think either of you should have a problem waiting until after the trial is over before you...work out your issues." Joey and Charlie looked at each other, knowing that Morag had a point but not wanting to wait for three whole long days before they could be together. "I'll um just walk you out to your car ok Charlie?" Joey said, almost asking Morag's permission instead of Charlies.

The two girls were standing at the car a minute later. "So three days huh?" Charlie confirmed. Joey sighed thinking how long that sounded, "Yeah today, tomorrow and then it's the court case. If it goes to plan of course and it gets cleared up in a day quickly like Morag believes." "And I'm guessing you'll be stuck hanging out with Morag for the next two days solid, and then the next day you'll be busy with the trial?" "Yeah that about sums it up," Joey responds. "So I'm guessing you're probably not going to have much time to work everything out with me over the next few days?" Charlie said sadly. "I'm sorry Charlie but Morag's right I need to concentrate on the case, put all my energy into facing Robbo again." "Then I'll see you at the trial in a few days. Tell Morag I'll call her later tonight to discuss what she wants me to say on the stand," Charlie told her. "Three days, hmmm sounds like a lifetime to be apart from you now that we're..." Joey said. "Come on, we survived through hell and back for three months, a couple days will be a walk through the park, then everything can go back to normal, right?" "Absolutely, I can't wait for this all to be over so we can be together again. Would it be totally lame of me to tell you I'm missing you already?" Joey asked sweetly. Charlie leaned forward and kissed her – in public and broad daylight Joey mentally noted - "Not at all, I guess I'll see you at the trial. Miss you." Joey watched as Charlie got in her car and drove off. She walked slowly back over to the apartment, thinking to herself, three days, that's some kind of new torture, and while looking up at the heavens, she laughed, "Bet you guys think this is real funny don't ya?"

Two days later, the evening before the court case, Charlie couldn't believe just how long, boring, and painful it had been to get through two lousy days. How in the world did I manage to survive three months without her? For two whole days Charlie immersed herself in her work, barely spending any time outside of the office. She decided to take some time off work, so she could be at the court case, and depending how long the trial went for, she was hoping with her extra days off she and Joey could get away to the city for a small holiday. She was planning on surprising her with the idea once Robbo was put away. Joey couldn't wait for the case to be over, spending so much time with Morag was not a good thing. She certainly was a tough lawyer, and was glad that Charlie had asked Morag to help. By the end of the two days, Joey felt completely drained. Morag had sat her down like she was on the stand, and prodded and questioned her relentlessly, exactly how the defence lawyer would the following day. Having everything you do called into question, how am I gonna cope with all this? The first night away from Charlie, Haley and Coop had rented some DVD's and bought a stack of junk food to try and spend one night relaxing not having to think about the trial. Didn't work too well, Joey spent that night crying herself to sleep, in Haley's arms, trying to cope with the impending questioning and how she'll react to seeing Robbo again after everything. But after the second day of the same thing from Morag, Joey knew her friends' keeping her company wasn't going to distract her. But there is someone else who might....

Charlie was at home washing her dishes after a late night dinner. She wasn't getting any work done at the office, so figured it would just be better to forget about it all and get back home. She was so consumed with her thoughts she didn't hear the knock on the back door behind her. Joey smiled as she watched Charlie standing there. Sneakily she slipped up behind Charlie, surprising the cop when she wrapped her arms around her waist and lightly kissed her on the cheek, before resting her head against Charlies shoulder. "Got a bit of a break from the case, we've done all we can, so I was hoping somebody might be able to distract me tonight?" "And let me guess you came here 'cause you thought VJ could distract you with a card game or Rubes could distract you with her constant chatter about Xavier? Well it seems my girl you're outta luck tonight, Leah's gone over to Roman's, VJ's at Stella's, and Ruby will be out late at the movies with Jai and Annie," Charlie sweetly told her, turning around into Joey's embrace, so she was facing her. "Well that's too bad, huh? Well surely there must be someone who can distract me from reality at least for a few hours..." Joey said almost begging Charlie to hurry up and make a move. "Hmmm I think I can find a way to distract you for a few hours...maybe you never knew but I'm also excellent at card games, or maybe you want to help me alphabetise by DVD collection, or we could eat some ice cream and you can bore me to death with talk of boats," Charlie teased. Joey leaned closer into Charlie, "Tomorrow night. I promise you I'll bore you about boat talk," she smiled, "but tonight I don't really want to talk about anything right now." "My thoughts exactly," Charlie agreed. The two girls pulled each other closer, into a slow and passionate kiss, forgetting the world outside, just for a night.


	13. Chapter 13

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: The trial begins. Will Charlie support Joey through it?

**Chapter Thirteen**

Joey breathed slowly, comforted by the sound of Charlie's breathing next to her. Afraid to open her eyes, terrified it was all a dream, she felt Charlie's body behind her, spooning her in a tight embrace. It wasn't a dream, she thought. She smiled happily as she opened her eyes, turning slightly she peered behind her, watching Charlie sleeping peacefully. Last night was unbelievable, it felt so right. Like everything was back the way it belonged, Charlie and Joey back in one another's arms, nothing stopping them from being together. Joey sighed; she rolled out of Charlie's embrace, and got out of bed. She threw on her clothes...once she finally found them scattered around the room. Once dressed, she stared at Charlie for a while before writing her a note, thinking long and hard about what to write, she left it on her pillow, before slipping out of the house. She hated walking out on Charlie, but she couldn't think about last night. If she did, she would never make it home in time. Morag was meeting her at Coop's place in half an hour and she had to get a shower and get dressed. Neither of which would have happened if she had of stayed with Charlie. I can think about and process last night later, right now I need to get ready to face Robbo.

Charlie stretched as she woke up; she slipped back into her sleep for a moment. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Finally prying open her eyes and it finally dawned on her, her Joey was missing. Suddenly wide awake, she sat up, staring at the spot her sleeping lover had occupied, her hand reached out for the note: 'Charlie, needed to go meet Morag. We'll talk later. See you at the trial. Always & forever. Jo.' Charlie giggled, at the fact that Joey had obviously tried to write something special and witty, but kept scribbling it out finally settling for the simple message. Typical Joey. Charlie lay back down, disappointed that she couldn't wake up in Joey's arms, but she still couldn't get her mind around last night. Noticing the time, she suddenly realized why Joey had rushed off, the trial was going to begin in just over an hour.

Joey stood in the hall with Morag, Haley and Coop. She kept pacing around, while Morag was on her mobile phone checking how Ross was going. She looked down at what she was wearing, wow did she feel ridiculous. She was wearing a knee-length, black skirt, with a white blouse and suit jacket. Ugh give me my Combat pants and that awful green shirt I'm weirdly attached to any day. Haley came up to her and took her hand, "calm down ok, it'll be ok I promise." "I know I'm just so nervous. I just feel like everything's going great right now, too great, it's probably time that something will go wrong." "Don't think like that, everything'll be alright promise. So I...um kinda noticed that you um didn't come home last night – back to Coop's I mean. Not that that's a problem, I'm ah happy for you and Charlie. You two are back together right?" Hales hesitantly asked, not sure if she wanted the answer. It still pained her knowing that Joey and Charlie would be back together soon if they weren't already. "Yeah, yeah I think we are--" Joey was interrupted by Morag who said they were ready to move into the court room.

The four moved into the room, and took their seats. The room was already filled with many of the Summer Bay residents. Joey was happy to note that they all had come here to support her, and waved at Xavier when he grinned cheerfully at her. He was sitting in the front row, with Ruby, Aden and Charlie. Wow she looks amazing, I feel so brave with her in the room. As she sat down at the front desk with Morag, Haley and Coop moved to sit along with the rest of her friends in the front row. Haley sat down next to Charlie, and greeted her politely. Charlie looked her up and down, before thanking her for coming. "Joey needs her friends." "I know, this is important for us all to support her." "Just so you know," Haley looked up at Charlie, "you ever hurt her, I'm gonna kill ya--" "Yeah, yeah like a chicken. Coop already gave me the speech," she smiled at the younger girl, "I get it. You're both protective of her. I know I'll deserve it if I do screw up." "I'm banking on you not screwing up," Joey turned around to face her, having heard the whole conversation, "because honestly I'm not sure if I could put up with Coop and Hales fighting over who gets to kill you. Hales here is a screamer, and Coop's a bit of a hair-puller," she teased sticking her tongue out at Coop. "What? That ain't true," he defended looking at the others, "it's...not. I was just wrestling with Haley once, and her hair got caught in my watch." "Whatever you need to believe Coop," Hales winked at him.

"If you don't mind," Morag interrupted the group. Joey turned around and the smile on her face quickly disappeared. Robbo and his lawyer stalked into the room and sat at their table. Joey almost couldn't breathe, but felt Charlie lean forward and comfort her with a hand resting on her shoulder. Joey silently thanked her. And that was just the beginning. The court case was brutal to say the least, physically and emotionally draining. Joey couldn't think what was worse, being up there on the stand having Robbo's lawyer repeatedly question her sexuality and insisting that Robbo and her had consensual sex or sitting there listening to Robbo lie and talk about how she had come on to him and they had made passionate love on the boat that day, and how terrified and humiliated he was when she turned around the next day and called it rape. She wanted to vomit when he described the nightmare like that. Charlie wanted to jump up to the stand, and kick him in the balls. But instead Charlie again leant forward to offer her support. They had a small break for lunch, and Joey was disappointed when she found out that Charlie needed to spend the break to go over the final details, before she took to the stand. But she understood how important it was, and spent the time with Aden and Hales, who were trying to distract her. Half-way there, she kept repeating to herself, just a few more hours and it's all over.


	14. Chapter 14

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Morag has a chat to Charlie about her relationship with Joey and Charlie takes to the stand at the trial.

**Chapter Fourteen**

Morag moved into a small back room with Charlie to sit her down properly and talk about the questions she'll be asked by both herself and the jerk Robbo had defending him. Morag decided it would be best if Charlie just told her the truth about their relationship, and she could work out the appropriate questions from there. Charlie hesitated at first; Morag may have been her step-mother and seemed to have an open reaction to her relationship, but she wasn't sure what she should tell her, and what to leave out. Realizing that they had a time restriction, she started at the beginning: when they first met. Charlie explained how she instantly knew that there was something different about Joey, how she knew that she had to help her and get to know her. She moved on to explain Brett's reaction to Joey coming out and how she provided Joey with a place to stay, and how the girls had gotten closer. Charlie revealed that before she knew what was happening, she had developed strong feelings for Joey. Ashamed she informed Morag of her struggles, dealing with her feelings for Joey and her own reaction to her sexuality, and how it had taken her a long time to accept her feelings. And when she did things were amazing with Joey, it was like no relationship she'd ever been in, and it was the real deal. Before she could stop herself she accidentally blurted out that they spent the night together in her car, after they admitted they loved each other. Going bright red, she moved on to briefly point out that after a bit of a shock, Ruby supported her. Without going into detail she explained that she lost Joey's trust after the town's reaction to them 'accidentally' being outted as a couple.

"And there you have it," Charlie concluded, "I needed to stay true and wait three months until she returned back to the Bay, and now things are looking up..." "I'm glad to hear that Charlie, and you can breathe, you'll do fine on the stand. Oh and Charlie," Morag said as Charlie got up to leave, "this wasn't about the case." Charlie looked at her confused. "I thought you might need to practice and fine tune your speech as I imagine you'll be informing your father of the nature of your relationship with Joey soon." Charlie had to give Morag credit, she certainly knew what she was doing. "Yes I was going to wait until after the trial, see if Joey wanted to come up with me to the City over the next few weeks so we can tell him together. He needs to know before it's too late and he can't remember. Any idea how he might react?" she asked hopefully. "Well if you don't want him keeling over from a heart attack I suggest you leave out the part about you, Joey and the night in the car." OMG could this be any more embarrassing Charlie complained to herself. "Just tell him the truth, you're happiness is all that ever mattered to him." "Thanks Morag."

As Charlie stepped on to the stand, said her oath, she wasn't sure if she was feeling complete dread for what she was about to do or a total sense of relief. She knew that almost all of the residents sitting there knew of her relationship with Joey, and was amazed at their support. She looked into the faces of almost all her friends, not a single person was missing, except Hugo she thought strangely. Haven't seen him around for a few days. Good, hopefully he's gone on a long diving trip, and gets eaten by a shark, exactly what he deserves. Her thoughts blurred as her eyes locked with Joey's. Morag was up first as she sensitively got Charlie to explain the nature of her relationship with Joey. It was hard at first, getting up there and announcing to pretty much the whole Bay that they had been a romantic couple. She got rather annoyed at Colleen who kept gasping, shocked, at every time Charlie or Morag uttered the words Joey, Charlie, relationship, and gay in the same sentence. Why on earth is the gossip-Queen herself even here if she's not here to support us? Probably so she can blab about the case for the next few weeks to anyone who will give her the time of day. Ignoring Colleen, she kept going, staying strong, and telling the jury all that they needed to know. Charlie felt as if she was on top of the world, declaring her feelings for the girl she loves.

But when it came time for the defence lawyer to question her she found herself telling the jury everything that the jury _didn't_ need to know. Her reaction to her feelings for Joey. Her affair with Hugo. Brett's police complaint. Not to mention that Joey took off for three months. Charlie couldn't believe that the jerk had found out all of these things, and before she could attempt to justify anything, he moved onto the next problem. As she stepped down from the stand, after been grilled, she looked over at the jury, trying to read their expressions, to see if they believed her. If they had believed Joey. As she sat back down behind Joey, Joey looked over to her and thanked her for being strong and open about her feelings. After the closing arguments from the lawyers the Jury broke to convene for their decision.

During the hiatus while the jury made their decision, the two girls stood in silence with one another, knowing that nothing needed to be said. Morag called them back into the court room, after only a couple hours. Joey was hoping that the quick decision of the jury was a good sign, that everything would be over in the next few minutes. As everyone was seated in the courtroom, the jury re-entered to announce their verdict. Joey felt her breathing slow as the foreman stood up before the Judge. Joey stood there with her hands behind her back fiddling, trying to distract herself, but was happy when she felt Charlie lean forward, slipping her hand into Joey's and entangling their fingers. Barely listening to what the Judge and foreman were saying, she finally paid attention when the Judge asked how the jury found the defendant, "Mr Robert Cruz on the charge of sexual assault and attempted murder of Ms Josephine Collins?" "Your honour, on the charges of sexual assault and attempted murder we find the defendant Mr Robert Cruz..."


	15. Chapter 15

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: M

Summary: The trial is over. Is there anything stopping Charlie and Joey being together?

_Thanks for all your feedback guys! Keep it coming!_

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Guilty!" yelled Aden as he popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and started pouring it out for Joey. "Well aren't you happy? Jerk got exactly what he deserved, seeing the look on his face after they announced his sentence, wasn't it all worth it?" he asked Joey as he continued to pour drinks for the rest of the group. Back at Leah's house, most of the guests were there helping Joey celebrate the win. Robbo was finally gone from her life, and things with Charlie were getting back on track, Joey couldn't be happier. "Yeah I just can't believe it's finally over, and now I can finally move on." Joey was standing there with Aden, and Charlie, who had been holding onto her hand all night, refusing to let go. She's so sweet like that. Ruby came up beside them, giving Joey another hug for like the 50th time that night. "I'm so happy everything went well today for you Jo," Ruby told her. "Thanks," Joey said as she hugged her back. "Hey Ruby, you're all giddy, didn't slip anything into that lemonade of yours did you?" Aden asked jokingly. "You better hope not sis," Charlie told her. "Oh come on Charlz, relax for one night. Everything's going great. Robbo's gone, Joey's back and you two are...well don't you stand there acting all innocent, what's the go? You two back together already??" Ruby asked excited after seeing how happy her sister was today.

Charlie stared at Joey for a moment, not sure how to answer. "Um yeah we are, we're still working things out but yes we're back together...we are back together right?" Charlie shyly asked Joey. Joey smiled, and giggled at Charlie, "Yes, well you're right we do still have to work through some stuff, but well uh after last night..." Joey blushed. "Ah ha! I knew it, I knew I heard someone sneak out of the house this morning," Ruby announced, "You two totally spent the night together. Aden, is there something wrong with them? They're both turning bright red." "Haha I think they're just embarrassed that their re-kindled romance ain't some big secret anymore. Don't be embarrassed girls, we knew it would happen sooner or later," he joked. The two girls stood there, still horribly embarrassed. Joey stroked Charlie's hand. "So Joey does this mean you'll be staying on in the Bay now that you two are back together?" Ruby asked. Joey hesitated, so Charlie explained, "Actually Ruby, we haven't really had the time to discuss that yet, we were kind of waiting until the trial was over...," then turned to Joey, "and now that it is would it be too forward of me to ask what your plans are?" Charlie was dying to know, hoping she could keep Joey in the Bay this time.

"Um well I was hoping that-" Joey started. "That you could find a local job that'll keep you here for a while," Haley interrupted, "Hmmm it's tough going nowadays for jobs. It's a good thing I spent yesterday at the wharf and secured us a coupla spots on a local fishing boat with Coop. Was waiting to surprise you with the news that you've got no reason to leave, so surprise." Joey pulled Hales into a hug, "You got us jobs, that's fantastic, thank you so much. And by us does that mean I'm not the only one who might be sticking around in the Bay?" she asked her friend. Charlie felt a little uncomfortable about their interaction, knowing of Haley's feelings for Joey, but knew that if her relationship was ever going to work, she had to trust Joey. "I'm gonna see what this town has to offer. But yeah there might be a reason or two for me to stay. Gonna see how things go. So Charlie, since you've stolen Joey's heart again, don't suppose you're hiding a gorgeous sister for me at all?" Haley teased. Suddenly it was Ruby that went bright red, and Aden cracked up laughing. Charlie cleared her throat, and looked over in Ruby's direction. Haley followed her gaze, and nearly smacked herself in the head, "Oh right, sorry I...forgot...I didn't seriously mean..." "Hales, stop while you're ahead. You really gotta learn to think before you open your mouth, you tool," Joey laughed. Hales looked up at Ruby, and mouthed, "Sorry." "No it's ah fine really. Guys always ask if Charlie has a hot sister, never had that from a chick but..." The gang burst out laughing. "I'm just gonna go see Xavier," Ruby said excusing herself.

As the night wore on the guests started to leave. Charlie and Joey were in the kitchen washing up the dishes and assisting Leah put away the uneaten food. Charlie was disappointed when she realized that she had to let go of Joey's hand for the first time that night, as Joey couldn't possibly dry the dishes one-handed. Aden and Belle came in to say their goodbyes, followed closely by Coop and Hales. "Collins, you gonna get a lift back with us now or you want me to pick you up tomorrow morning?" Coop cheekily asked. Joey blushed, "I um hadn't really thought about my plans for tonight I guess I'll be..." "I'll get her home safely Coop," Charlie piped up. "Tomorrow morning right Charlz?" Haley teased. Joey looked at Charlie, "Sounds like a plan to me." After Coop and Hales left, Leah and Ruby conveniently made themselves scarce, leaving the two girls alone for the first time that evening.

Joey sidled up to Charlie, putting her hands on her waist, "So if I'm not going back to Coop's tonight? And you're planning on taking me back tomorrow?" Charlie nodded. "Well that only leaves one question," Joey continued, "Where do you suppose I'll be sleeping tonight?" "I know you said you wanted to take things slow, but that kinda didn't work last night," Charlie said as the memories from the previous night filled her mind. "Yeah I guess you're right, we did take things a bit too fast last night, guess I should probably crash on the couch tonight," Joey joked as she headed out of the kitchen. Charlie chased after her into the living room, and grabbed her by the waist pulling her back into her arms. "I don't think that's such a good idea, the couch is just so uncomfortable. I think you should stick with me tonight." "I think that sounds like a workable plan," Joey said as she leaned forward bringing her lips up to meet Charlie's. The girls kiss deepened as Charlie tangled her tongue with Joey's passionately.

The two girls made their way into Charlie's room, Charlie breaking their kiss to close the door. Soon she was back in Joey's embrace as they lay down on the bed. "Mmm God you have no idea how much I've missed this," Charlie moaned, "I know we were together last night, but this is different. Knowing that there's nothing stopping us from being together. I love you so much Joey." "God I love you too Charlie, I need you so badly. I've wanted this...us properly together for so long," Joey murmured. Joey pulled off Charlie's shirt, while Charlie undid each of the buttons on Joey's blouse. Joey started kissing Charlie's neck, as Charlie was struggling with the last few buttons. "Remind me to burn this shirt tomorrow, as hot as you look in it, you're never wearing a 'too-hard-to-get-out-of-shirt' ever again," Charlie joked nervously. "You promise?" said Joey, as Charlie finally slipped the shirt off her. Undoing one another's bras the girls stared at one another, before Charlie leaned over Joey pushing her underneath her body, she continued kissing her. Their bodies reacted to the touch of one another as they moaned in pleasure.

Charlie kissed down the length of Joey's body, spending some time distracted as she sucked and nibbled Joey's breasts. It turned her on every time Joey groaned. She loved how much a simple act turned both of them on. She slid Joey's skirt off, and Joey reached over and pulled off Charlie's pants. Without hesitation, they both took their panties off. Charlie pulled Joey to her so she was straddling the older girl. They kissed one another and gently they started making love to one another. Charlie slipped inside Joey, feeling how wet she was. How much she wanted her. Their bodies moved with one another, as they explored one another's bodies all night long. It felt like so long ago, they were together. The previous night was about comfort, terrified of what the future would bring. This night was the beginning of their lives together, knowing that this is what they both needed. It didn't matter what happened next, but they were together, that's all that mattered. _Someday_ is today.


	16. Chapter 16

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Charlie and Joey take a road trip to the City to visit Ross and Morag. Will Charlie tell Ross about her relationship?

_Keep the feedback coming. The more lovely comments I get the more I feel like writing lol_

**Chapter Sixteen**

Charlie got up early for her morning run. She enjoyed getting out there on the beach running along the surf. Part of why she loved the idea of moving to Summer Bay from the city. After her normal run, she decided to head down to the wharf to see how Joey was going at work. It had been nearly a week since the trial and her relationship with Joey was progressing along well...slowly but still well. Charlie was slightly disappointed when the younger girl had insisted on staying at Coop's place for the time being, instead of moving back with Charlie. After their night together, Charlie had already started planning on making room for Joey into her room...and her life. And as much as Joey wanted to start to re-build their lives again, she knew that they still needed some breathing space and being around one another full-time...like last time, she didn't want to put herself in the position of everything going wrong and having nowhere left to go. Joey hated feeling like that, not wanting Charlie to know that there was still this tiny part of her that still doubted Charlie's commitment to her. She informed Charlie that she needed to get settled back into her life in the Bay, get comfortable with her new job before she made another big change. Plus she hated that total lesbian cliché that lesbians always moved in together within the first few dates.

Charlie rounded the corner, towards the wharf. She knew that Joey still felt some small hesitation about her relationship but hoped that over the next few days it would set Joey's mind at peace. Charlie and Joey had the weekend off, and once Joey finished work early that arvo they planned on heading down to the City to visit Ross and Morag. Charlie was nervous about telling her father about the two of them, but knew she needed to give Joey a reason to trust her completely. After all, she trusted Joey entirely right? As Charlie looked on she saw Joey and Haley washing the boat, but it appeared to Charlie as they were having too much fun enjoying a water fight. Am I always going to feel jealous of Haley? Charlie asked herself. Haley gets to spend most of her time with Joey, at work, hanging out as friends and at Coop's. I trust Joey, but I also know how Haley feels about her, I just wish I could talk to Joey about it without coming off like the jealous girlfriend. Aww _girlfriend_, still can't believe I get to say that. Charlie walked down the pier to the boat, and when Joey caught sight of her, ran over to her, and gave her a loving embrace.

"Well nice one, Jo, now I'm all wet too!" Charlie moaned. "Hmm then I guess you'll have to join me in my shower after work to clean up huh?" Joey chuckled. "Alright you two, enough of that distracting her from her work Charlz, and Joey get your butt back here and help me out already. You're getting off work early today, and get to spend the whole weekend away with your girl, least you can do is help finish up getting this boat cleaned." Haley laughed as she watched the pair. God I wish I could be that in love with someone...else. Charlie told Joey that she was going to get them some lunch from the diner for the road trip, then get home and get herself packed. Joey agreed for Charlie to pick her up at Coop's in a few hours. "Miss you," Charlie whispered as she headed off. "Miss you too," Joey replied.

After a few hours and both girls re-packing their bags more than twice, they were finally on the road. Charlie driving and Joey sitting back listening to the music on the radio. Joey looked over at her girlfriend, "So are you looking forward to seeing your Dad?" "Yeah, I mean it's still hard to see him that way, and I just feel so bad because the last few times I've seen him I was too distracted by what was going on with me – us – and I didn't really spend much time with him," Charlie told her. "Sorry I feel like that's my fault. If it wasn't for me...things wouldn't be so hard." Charlie scoffed, "You're kidding right? Joey you make everything in my life better, I mean it. Yes it was a huge struggle to get to where we are. But it was all worth it, right?" "Yeah it was," Joey said happily, "I'm thankful that you waited for me. I know it's been difficult since I've been back, because you want things back the way they were and I've been slightly reluctant. I just wanted you to know that it's not about you, I just need some time to work things out before I go rushing into things too quickly."

"I'd say you can take all the time in the world, but I'd miss you too much. So are you ready to meet my father?" Charlie asked. "I dunno Morag kinda scared me, and I know you're dad was a tough detective, I dunno maybe I'm just nervous because I've never done the whole meet your girlfriends' parents thing," Joey admitted. "Hey relax, my dad's only half as scary as Morag, promise. It might take some time for him to understand our relationship but he'll get over it and he'll love you," Charlie said resting her hand on Joey's leg comforting her. "Are you worried about telling him? About how he'll react?" Joey asked. "A little bit yeah. Is that normal?" Charlie asked for Joey's advice. She knew that Joey had hardly had the chance to come out to her parents, but she went through it with Brett. Charlie knew that she'd had it pretty easy going with Ruby, Leah, and her workmates accepting her, along with most of the town. All those people, and really the only people she had come out to and expressed her own feelings for Joey on her own terms was Angelo and Morag. Everybody else had found out otherwise, without Charlie being completely ready. But she knew she was ready this time. She had to be.

"Course it is. It wouldn't make coming out so hard if everybody reacted perfectly normal. Not that Ross won't react well, but it's not exactly what every parent wants to hear from their children. Read this book once, when I was struggling with my sexuality, and it pretty much boiled down to when parents find out their child is gay they all of a sudden assume that all their own dreams for their child disappear. Weddings, family holidays, children, house with a white picket fence. All of it gone in a flash. Because gay couples _can't_ have the same happiness straight '_normal_' couples do. But I kept telling myself that if my family didn't accept me, then I'd have to choose. My happiness or theirs? What was more important to me?" Joey explained tears welling up in her eyes. "I wish I could've been there for you, you were so brave to go through all that alone," Charlie confessed. "Hey, its okay really, everything I've been through bought me here with you. I'd go through it all again if I had to so I could be sitting in this car with you. Just so you know, you don't need to do this, tell your Dad, if you're not ready I mean. I'm not going anywhere if you decide to wait."

Charlie took hold of Joey's hand with her own – two-hands on the wheel be damned, can't be a cop every minute of my life – "Good to know, but I'm not going to freak out and change my mind. He needs to know you're the person I'm in love with, and if he doesn't accept that then that's his issue. It'll hurt me, but I'm not going to lose you over this. Already done that and I barely survived. I know I'm still confused on exactly what my sexuality is, but it doesn't matter right now. You're my happiness. I'm not giving you up just because you're not what my father imagined my future would be. I love you. We're here," Charlie announced. Joey looked around, she was so lost in their talk she barely registered they were still moving, but sure enough Charlie had just parked the car in a driveway. "I love you too. Ready for this?" Joey asked as Charlie nod. "So you want some time alone with your Dad to tell him, or do you want to get settled in first then sit down and let him know?" Joey enquired. "I think it'd be best if we tell him straight away that way he won't question why you're sleeping in with me. He knows I'm bringing a friend so it wouldn't surprise me if he's set up an extra bed for you. And if you don't mind I'd really like you there with me when I tell him. Kinda need your support." "Absolutely, wouldn't be anywhere else." Charlie and Joey leaned forward into a kiss, pulling back after a few seconds, knowing they couldn't get carried away.

Getting out of the car, and grabbing their bags, the girls headed up the driveway. Joey was stunned when Charlie entangled her hand with hers as they walked towards the front door. She loved how proud Charlie felt of her...of them. Like they could take on the world together. Well maybe not the world but certainly Charlie's father. Charlie knocked on the door, as she gripped Joey's hand tighter, letting her know she wasn't letting go. Joey smiled at Charlie, as the door opened with Ross standing there. He beamed as he looked at his eldest daughter standing there, and leaned forward into a hug, as she reached up and put her left arm around him. As he felt Charlie pull out of the hug, he noticed that her other arm was attached to the young girl standing next to her. Charlie noticed him staring, and taking a deep breath, she said, "Dad, this is ah Joey...my girlfriend."


	17. Chapter 17

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Charlie tells Ross about her relationship with Joey. How will he react? And Joey gets a phone call...

**Chapter Seventeen**

Charlie and Joey were sitting on the couch. Charlie was distracted as she kept tapping her foot on the ground. Joey leaned over, slipping her hand on her thigh trying to calm her down. "Hey you okay?" she gently asked. "What? Oh right yeah sorry. Guess I'm just distracted. Dad and Morag have been in the kitchen for a while getting drinks. Do you think they've been too long? I mean are they talking about us? Do you think Morag told him that she knew about us and he's blaming her for not telling her? Or maybe he's just taking some alone time to freak out? Do you think he took it well? I mean he didn't really say anything when I announced it. By the way, I so wasn't planning on doing that. I had the speech in my head, and then you kissed me in the car and the speech went out the window, and we were standing there in front of him and it kinda just seemed like the thing to say. I completely freaked him by announcing it like that didn't I? ...And I'm totally freaking you out because up until a few days ago I bet you didn't know how badly I can ramble on...feel free to stop me at any point here because I'll need a bottle of water if I keep going," Charlie finally finished.

Joey giggled, "Boy you really do ramble when you're nervous! From the questions I actually remember you asking: Yes they might be in there discussing this revelation, Morag accepted us so she's probably helping him understand, and I think he took it like any normal parent. And I wouldn't say you freaked him out as much as it took him by surprise when you declared it...which if you ask me was adorably cute." "Thanks," Charlie whispered gently taking Joey's hand, "I couldn't get through this without you." "You're welcome," Joey thanked, staring at Charlie wanting desperately to kiss all her problems away. She decided against it when suddenly Ross and Morag re-entered the room.

Both taking their seats, Morag placed a tray with coffee down in front of the group, and began pouring out the drinks. Ross noticed that Charlie had her hand entangled with Joey's. "So, Dad," Charlie begun, "You've been very um quiet. I know this comes as a bit of a shock and I really didn't mean to blurt it out like that..." Ross held his hand up to stop Charlie's ranting. "Charlie stop please. You're right, this did certainly come as a shock...I mean how long has _this_ being going on for?" he asked nodding at Joey. Joey felt slightly uncomfortable at his tone, but Charlie had her hand gripped so tightly she couldn't let go. "Dad, I know that tone of voice," Charlie stated. "I know what you're probably thinking but I can't tell you how much time I've wasted processing this myself. It wasn't anything I was looking for. It just kind of happened. And I'm so glad it did, Dad. Because I am really happy now with Joey. I can't explain it, but I need you to support me. Are you ok with this – Joey and I?"

Ross sat there for a moment, thinking before he finally informed them, "Charlie, I already do support you. I can't say I'm completely ok with this relationship, but I guess I'm glad to finally understand why you've been so distracted – processing _this_ - the last few times you've visited. Morag told me in the kitchen that you two have been on and off for quite a few months, and that you finally made a pretty convincing speech at Joey's trial about your feelings for her." Charlie nodded sheepishly, "I didn't want to hide this from you, and I asked Morag not to say anything until I knew I was ready to well...come out." "And is that exactly what you're doing here? Coming out as a lesbian? I mean I know you've had a bad history with guys Charlie, and if that history had turned you into believing that you can't have a good future with a man then--" "Dad, stop ok. I'm not _coming out_ as such. Yes I'm interested in Joey, and I know that I've always been attracted to men in the past. So I'm not sure what that makes me, I'm still working through that but it's not important right now. I don't care about labels. The point is that I'm here to tell you that I've found the love of my life, and I couldn't be happier." Joey sat there quietly, but she was very proud of Charlie, it was only a few months ago she wouldn't even hold her hand in public, now she was announcing her feelings to one of the most important people in her life.

"So does Ruby know about the two of you?" Ross inquired. "Yes she does, and she fully supports our relationship Dad. She kinda freaked out at the start but it had more to do with me keeping secrets than the fact I might be gay. She's actually a lot more mature than we give her credit for; she helped through some tough times." Ross frowned sadly, "I'm sorry to hear you have been having a hard time because of your relationship. Nobody deserves to be judged because of who they love. So I guess you really are happy then," he concluded. Charlie stared at Joey happily, "Couldn't be more happier if I tried." "Well, then, Joey I guess I should thank you for being a part of my daughter's life," Ross turned towards Joey. Joey smiled, thinking that this whole meeting-the-parents thing wasn't half bad, "You're welcome, but it should be me thanking you for raising an unbelievably strong daughter. I've been through hell and back the last few months, but Charlie never gave up on me – us. She's been amazing. I really do love her." "Yes Morag told me about your case, I'm glad Charlie was there to help you through it," Ross said truly sorry for what the young girl had been through.

Before long the four of them were chatting away comfortably getting to know each other. Joey and Ross struck up a nice conversation about boating and fishing. Ross was impressed; none of Charlie's boyfriends had been interested in one of his favourite hobbies. Ross thought it was ironic that it had to be a girlfriend of Charlie's that he got along with much better than the guys who had treated her badly in the past. After some convincing from Ross, and getting approval from Charlie and Morag, Joey decided that she would take Ross out on the boat she was working on next time he was in town. If was feeling well enough. She knew that it would be fun for him to get out on the water to relax, and she wanted to get to know him better, so thought it would be a great opportunity. Charlie loved how much Joey and her Dad got along, and was almost a little jealous. She'd never had a great relationship with the man, spent so much of her time trying to impress him, and he was working too hard to notice. But she was happy that everything seemed to be going well and Ross had accepted them being a couple.

After dinner, and watching a footy game on TV with Ross, the girls finally got some alone time, when they made some excuses about being tired and headed to bed. Charlie collapsed on the bed, as Joey started taking her PJs out of her bags. As Joey started to head into the bathroom, Charlie surprised her by pulling her into a hug, and dragging her onto the bed. "Hey, come on I do need to have a shower. I don't want your Dad to think I smell." Charlie laughed, "After today, I doubt my Dad would care if you did. Besides you spent the entire afternoon talking with my Dad and Morag, I missed you. I didn't realize that for a weekend away, we'd barely get to spend any time alone together. So the least you can do is give me smoochies now while we have the chance." Charlie pouted, and Joey gave in throwing her PJs on the floor and kissing Charlie.

After a few passionate kisses, Joey pulled back, "So you really think things went well today with your Dad?" Charlie giggled, "Let's put it this way: he likes you enough not to have asked me if I've done a police check on your background or insist that he should do one to protect me. Trust me that's something he's always done on all my past boyfriends." "Well I should consider myself lucky, and make sure I keep him happy, 'cause I'm sure neither of you wants to know about all the bad things I've done in the past," Joey giggled sarcastically. "Oh really," Charlie played along, "like what?" "Well I'm sure a police check would reveal my darkest secrets like this one time when I was seven I stole a candy bar, and when I was at high school I cheated on a big Maths test. Forgive me?" Joey looked at Charlie innocently. Charlie stared into her eyes, "Kiss me again and I'll consider it."

Joey leaned forward into Charlie's waiting arms, finding her lips with her own. The two girls found themselves in a full-blown make-out session within minutes. Joey felt the need for something more and started to pull Charlie's shirt up, when Charlie pulled back. Joey looked at her surprised by her reaction. Charlie leant back towards her, stroking her hand against Joey's cheek, "I'm sorry I didn't mean...it's not what you think. I want you. I'm just a little uncomfortable about doing this with my father and his wife down the hall." Joey smiled, glad it wasn't about Charlie freaking out again. "Oh right of course, God I got so into it I pretty much forgot where we were. My mind pretty much turns to mush when we're together." Joey sat up, "So does this mean you brought me here on a weekend away, and we can't even do anything more than make out. You're cruel." Charlie giggled, "I'm sorry. Trust me I didn't quite think this whole weekend away with my parents thing. Besides I'm sure we can slip away tomorrow evening after dinner for a while. I'm sure Dad won't mind if I tell him I need to show you the clubs in the City, and instead we can just go to a hotel for a few hours. Make the most of our time together, alone...making love to one another." "God you make me so insanely crazy. But I guess I'll just have to wait because as much as I want you, I so don't want your dad or Morag catching us. Talk about making a bad impression."

The two girls changed into their PJs and slipped under the covers. Charlie leaned over pulling Joey closer to her, spooning the younger girl in front of her. "Hmmm I love this. Just lying here with you. I was so freaked out that today wouldn't go well. I don't know why I was so worried that my Dad wouldn't like you." "I know I am very likable. And don't worry like I told you, it's hard to judge how people will react. Be glad your Dad's one of the good ones," Joey told her, "And you're right, I love lying here in your arms." "Well maybe I mean if you want," Charlie hesitated, "when we get back home you can lie in my arms every night." Joey turned around to face Charlie, "Is that your weird way of asking me to move back in with you?" "Yeah kind of. I mean if you want to. I'd understand if you're still not ready to--" Charlie stopped as Joey leant forward ending her sentence with a kiss. "I'd love to are you kidding me. I mean we have to check with Leah first it is her house and all." Charlie grinned at her, "Already did. It's cool. Leah loves you...not the way I do but like a little sister kind of way. But anyway she said she'd love you to move back in. We've missed you. We've been this whole dysfunctional family without you the last few months." "Well in that case I would love to come back and be a part of the dysfunctional family."

Leaning forward into another kiss, they were interrupted by a mobile phone ringing. "Hey, it's you," Charlie said, glad it wasn't her phone 'cause at this hour it could only be work. Joey picked up her phone and answered. Joey tensed up as she heard the other person on the other end. "Jo, you ok?" Charlie asked. Joey ignored her, "Hales, slow down ok. What's wrong?" Joey heard the reply, "He did what? Tell me everything. What happened?"


	18. Chapter 18

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Joey heads back to the Bay to help Haley. Who's back in Summer Bay causing trouble?

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Are you sure about this?" Charlie asked Joey. Joey was pacing back and forth at the local bus stop, while Charlie was standing leaning against her car. After no response from her girlfriend, Charlie leaned out tugging Joey gently, pulling Joey out of her thoughts. "Huh?" Joey questioned. "Jo are you sure you're ok? That you want to do this? You shouldn't have to go back to the Bay because of this. This was meant to be a nice weekend away..." Charlie stopped when Joey stared at her. "Are you serious? That's what you care about, a weekend away. Nice one Charlz," Joey said angrily. "Don't be like that Joey, this isn't my fault. It's not your fault either. I'm just saying what good will it do for you to go back now. Maybe you should stay here, spend some more time with my family. I'm sure Haley can cope on her own," Charlie tried convincing her. "Of course this is my fault. If I hadn't of left Haley then Brett wouldn't have--" "Brett would have harassed you, if you had of been there. You can't stop him like this. You need Haley to press charges if it's serious," Charlie told her.

"Yeah, well she doesn't want to do that," Joey informed her. "What exactly happened last night? You were on the phone to her for a while and you still haven't really told me what's going on. What did Brett do?" Joey sat down on the bench. "It wasn't anything serious, Brett just turned up at Coop's place while Haley was there alone. He was drunk and he just started yelling at her, telling her to keep away from me. After throwing some stuff around, he eventually just took off," Joey told her. "I don't understand, why would Brett even know about your friend Haley? I would've thought that if he was going to have a problem with your relationship he'd be trying to threaten me. I am the girlfriend here, Haley's just the friend...right?" Charlie asked unsure of what Joey was hiding. Joey sighed, "Of course you are. Brett thinks that I'm with Haley." "Ok how did he get that one wrong? I know he's not the brightest tool in the shed," Charlie joked trying to lighten the mood. "Well from what Haley gathered with his yelling he came down to the wharf yesterday morning...to apologise to me actually. For not being there at the trial or bothering to see me when I got back. Not that I went rushing back to him. When I left Haley at the wharf yesterday, I hugged her goodbye, guess Brett caught that."

Joey looked up at Charlie, she could read her mind just looking at her eyes. "It wasn't like that I promise. Haley's a friend. That's all the hug was. Guess Brett thought differently. After I left, Haley hung around finishing off the cleaning on the boat, and then I guess he followed her back to Coop's. He must have gone to the bar, got drunk, and last night he turned up and started harassing her. Telling her to stay away from me, that I wasn't like_ her_. Pretty much what he said to you when Leah busted in on our argument. I should've expected that Brett hadn't changed. I need to go back and check on Haley, make sure Brett doesn't do this again. She's only been a friend, she shouldn't have to put up with his crap." Charlie placed her arm around Joey's shoulders. "How many times do I have to tell you this isn't your fault? You couldn't have stopped him. You said Haley was fine, don't get so worked up. You can sort this out with Brett in a few days..." "You don't get it. If it wasn't for me, Brett wouldn't be going out attacking her. She was lucky okay. He could've done something worse." "You mean he's attacked you before?" Charlie asked concerned. "I'm not talking about this now," Joey started as the bus pulled up in front of her, "Look just apologise for your father for me. I know you need to stay back with him while you have the chance, so I'll see you in a couple days." Before Charlie could say a word, Joey was on the bus, looking out through the window from her seat.

Charlie drove back to her Dad's, crawled into bed and snuggled into the doona, wishing she was cuddling Joey. Every time something goes right, something else goes wrong, she thought. What is it with this girl, Haley? Can't Joey see that she's slowly coming between us, even if this wasn't her fault? Joey's so insistent on protecting Haley, I wish she would realize I want to be the only girl she's protecting.

When Joey got off the bus, she headed straight over to Coop's. Haley swung open the door when she heard the urgent knocking on the door. She smiled brightly when she saw Joey standing in the doorway. "Hey, what the hell? Aren't you supposed to be living the good life with your girl's family?" Joey dropped her bags on the floor, and gave Hales a hug, "Yeah well didn't turn out that way, had a friend back home who needed my help." Hales embraced Joey longer, "What did I tell you last night? You don't need to be here to protect me. It wasn't a big deal. Brett came, slurred some words, threw some stuff around, I told him to bugger off, and he did." The two girls let go of one another, and Joey pulled Hales to sit down on the couch with her. "I'm so sorry Brett did this. You shouldn't have to put up with him. I'm going to go see him later and tell him to stay away from me – us." "Never listen to a word I say Collins. Nothing you could've done to stop him, and I'm glad you weren't here, he would have hurt you." "Don't worry 'bout me, I can handle Brett. And since you told him to get lost I guess he listens to you as well. What else did he say?"

Hales stood up, and walked over to the other side of the room. "Oh you know, just that he saw us together and I should stay away because you don't really love me, you're just going through this _sick_ phase but you'll get over it and me." "And what'd you say?" "Oh you know that he can't change the fact that you _love_ me and you'll _never_ get over_ me," _Hales giggled sarcastically. "No of course not. I told him you can't change who you are. And if he didn't wake up and realize how amazing and lovable his baby sister is, then it's his loss." Joey smiled, "Lovable huh?" "Only just a tad. So what'd Charlie say when you up and bailed on the meet-the-family to come rescue me? Not happy huh?" Joey nodded, "she's not impressed. She doesn't really understand how important you've become over the past few months. You've been here for me and I wanted to do the same back. But yes before the interruption, things were going great. Ross is a great guy, and he accepted us. He almost freaked out but he kinda..." "Saw how much Charlie loves you, and how much you love her," Haley finished. "Something like that yeah. Is it really that obvious?" Joey asked. "Only to everyone who has eyes," Hales giggled. "Well after the crap Brett put you through, I think I should buy you lunch. Let's go to the diner."


	19. Chapter 19

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Joey and Haley confront Brett, and Haley beings to show her true feelings.

**Chapter Nineteen**

The two girls walked along the beach heading towards the diner. Joey was informing Hales all about her day meeting Charlie's dad. "Sounds like I broke up a pretty good weekend. Sorry 'bout that. So Charlie asked you to move back in with her? You gonna do it? Not that I mind, but I'll kind of miss you around." "I honestly don't know. Every time things get good with Charlie something goes wrong and I end up getting hurt. I want to move back but I'm not sure if I trust her 100%. I keep wondering if I'll ever get over the hurt she's caused," Joey sighed. "Hey if it doesn't work it doesn't work. You can't force something that's not meant to be," Hales told her. "Such an optimist Davies, really love that about you."

"So it's true," a voice interrupted them, "you two are together?" Brett stood there standing behind the girls. He'd seen them walking along the beach and followed them, waiting to pop up behind them, listening to their conversation. Joey turned around to face him, "Brett what the hell are you doing here?" "Jo, I'm just trying to protect you from going through this again after what _that cop_ did," he yelled. "Brett you don't get it at all. Charlie never did anything to me, neither did Hales, this is who I am. I'm gay. Deal with it or don't. Make a damn choice," Joey demanded. Brett turned to Haley, "What are you still doing in town? I thought I made it clear you should pack your bags and take off." Joey couldn't believe was Brett was saying. "Wait you did what? What right do you have to tell my friends to leave? If you don't want to be around me, and all my _baggage _you should take off. Face it Brett I'm not a kid anymore, you can't just threaten to beat me down the second you don't like something." Haley grabbed Joey's hand, and whispered softly, "Jo, maybe you should just calm down a bit before Brett really loses it--"

Brett saw Haley take Joey's hand. He couldn't stand them been so close. "Let her go," he commanded. "No, we're not just going to do what you tell us," Haley told him, "Joey might be afraid of you but I'm not. If you don't like this, that's your problem Brett. Get lost and go get yourself some help, before you lose a lot more than your sister." Joey stood there feeling proud that Hales was standing up for her. "What exactly do you mean by _this_? I thought you told me you two weren't together." Before Joey could make a stand, Haley stepped forward with her hand firmly holding Joey's. "Yeah well we are! Now why don't you take a hike and leave _my girlfriend_ alone!" Brett looked at the two girls, disgusted. "Do what you want with your life Jo. You want to screw up your whole life, go right ahead. Don't come running to me when she leaves you just like the cop did." Brett stalked off.

Joey watched him leave, tears welling up in her eyes. Brett was an absolute jerk. But he was the only absolute jerk of a brother she had. Why couldn't he just accept her for who she is? Joey suddenly realized she was still standing there holding hands with Haley. Letting go of her hand, Joey turned to face her. "Hey you ok? I can't believe that your own brother can treat you like that--" "No I'm not ok, what the hell was that about Hales?" Joey demanded. "What you mean about the...look it's not what you think. I was just trying to protect you. I wanted him to be angry at me so he wouldn't go off at you and Charlie," Hales explained. "How is that going to solve anything? And how is you telling him you and I are together helping Charlie and I?" Joey questioned. "Well because he won't hassle the two of you anymore and Charlie won't go off and..."

"And what? You think Charlie would cheat on me again if Brett got into an argument with her? I can't believe you would think that," Joey said. "Wasn't it you not 5 minutes ago saying that you're not sure if you'll ever trust Charlie again? You keep telling yourself that you love her, but someone who loves you should never treat you the way she did." "Charlie and I have dealt with our issues, we love each other. She's not going to hurt me again, she knows I'll never give her another chance if she does. Why are you twisting everything I'm saying? This isn't like you, Hales. What's going on here?" "Nothing. It's...nothing. It's just you deserve so much better than Charlie is all," Haley told her. "Talk to me Hales. What's bugging you? You've never had a problem with Charlie, you've always known what she did when I left. So what's the big deal now all of a sudden? Just tell me the truth," Joey replied. "You know we're a lot a like you and I. Guess we can't help who we fall for. Isn't that right Jo?" Haley admitted. "Wait...huh?" Joey said confused, "who've you fallen for?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Haley admits her feelings to Joey. Who catches the girls in a comprising position?

_Keep the awesome feedback coming guys. Really helps me get an idea on where to continue taking this story._

**Chapter Twenty**

Haley turned away from Joey, and started walking off. "Hey wait up!" Joey yelled chasing after her, "What was that about? You can't just say that and walk away from me. Talk to me. We're friends Hales, tell me what's going on?" Haley stopped in her tracks and turned towards Joey facing her. "We're not friends Joey. Never have been. Look I'm sorry okay, I shouldn't be saying this, but I can't keep lying to you," Haley started. Joey looked at her curiously.

"I'm the girl for you, Joey Collins. I've been the girl for you since I first laid eyes on you. And I know that my timing sucks but I've waited nearly four months for you to deal with your issues with Charlie. I know you think she loves you, but she doesn't deserve you. All she has ever done is hurt you. Ok, so she might have stood up on that stand for you, and told her Dad about you, but that doesn't mean she'll be there for you when you need her. She cheated on you once and chances are she'll probably do it again. I could never hurt you like that. And I know you're probably confused about what you're feeling. But I'm not. I know I can be what you need. We have something here, Joey. You can't deny that. I love you damn it and I'll wait for you if I have to. But one of these days you're gonna realize...I'm the one for you," Haley claimed, and then whispered, "I just thought you should know."

Joey stood there stunned. She knew Haley had a crush on her, but she had no idea how strong her feelings for her were. This is what she wanted...she wanted Charlie to fight for her like Haley did. Joey leaned forward and wiped Haley's tears away, leaving her hand there stroking her face. It would be easier with Haley. No drama, no betrayal. They could just find another trawler and sail away together. Leave the problems of Summer Bay behind them. Nobody around them to judge their relationship. Joey leaned forward again, her lips centimetres from Haley's but then she paused, as she noticed the bracelet on her wrist. A present Charlie gave her after the trial. "You're right, you're the one for me." Haley looked up at her. "I mean if things were different you would be the one for me. I'm sorry but I can't do this. I love Charlie, and you deserve to be better than someone's second choice. You deserve to be somebody's everything. Just like Charlie is to me. I can't lie to you, I would love you to be the girl for me. But I need to follow my heart. And my heart knows that Charlie is the one for me," Joey confessed.

Haley smiled, "Yeah I know. I was kinda hoping you wouldn't figure that out. Truth be told, I was surprised you even came back here to help me. If it wasn't for Brett, you'd still be with Charlie, where you belong. Guess you can't fight fate." Joey grinned sweetly, "You're right, I spent a lot of time trying to fight my fate with Charlie. But I can't keep doing that. I need to be with her completely. Thanks for being honest about your feelings. I can't imagine how hard I've made things for you. You've been a great friend throughout. I'll never forget that. Don't worry you'll find the girl for you, I'm sorry that girl isn't me." Joey leaned forward brushing her lips against Haley softly, nothing more than a thank-you kiss. Pulling away, she stroked her finger over Haley's lips.

"Thanks. So whata you still doing here? Go back to the city and go get your girl before she gets back and Brett tells her about what I said. I never wanted to come between you two, I just couldn't help falling for you. You're a tough one to get over, but I'll deal and I hope I find someone as special as you," Haley told her. "You will. Trust me she'll surprise you when you least expect it. Don't give up hope. Now let's get outta here for that lunch we were getting. Charlie will be back tomorrow. I'll give her a call when we get back to Coop's, let her know everything's sorted. She already knows that Brett assumes we're together, and I don't think she'll listen to him even if he does say anything about your little speech. She needs to spend the weekend with Ross, and I need to spend mine with a good friend," Joey replied. "Sounds good. Things may not have worked out the way I wanted but I think a large Chocolate Milkshake will make most of my troubles go away." "Then a Chocolate Milkshake it will be," Joey said as she slipped her arm around Haley's waist and dragged her along the beach towards the Diner.

Ruby watched the two girls walk away together. She wasn't sure if she could believe what she had just seen. Why was Joey back in town early? Where was Charlie? And why was Joey standing on the beach with Haley kissing the other girl? These questions rattled through her mind as she continued watching them walking away, hand in hand, happily smiling and laughing. Ruby wasn't sure what she should do. Confront Joey and Haley? Or tell Charlie what she'd seen? Or stay out of it and hope that Joey would admit the truth to Charlie herself? Ruby hated been put in this position. It didn't matter who told her, she knew that if Charlie found out about it from either of them it would break her heart. Things seemed to be going so well. Charlie had called her last night and told her that Ross had accepted her and Joey as a couple. Ruby was afraid for Charlie that if Ross didn't accept her relationship, that things would take a turn for the worse. She hoped that Charlie wouldn't make the same mistake as last time, but knew how much Charlie needed their father's support.

Charlie was so happy last night when she called, everything was going great. Ross was pretty much the last person that needed to be told about Joey. The last hurdle in their relationship. Until now. How would Charlie react if she found out what Joey was doing? Ruby hated admitting that things could go really badly. Charlie hadn't been the easiest person to live with when Joey took off. Could she lie to her sister to keep her happy and in the dark about Joey's betrayal? Secrets always had a way of coming out. That was proved when Charlie tried hiding her affair with Hugo. A kiss wasn't as bad as Charlie sleeping with Hugo, but it was still wrong. And Ruby wasn't sure if Joey and Haley _weren't_ hooking up. Maybe this was Joey's way of getting back at Charlie for cheating on her. Ruby decided that she needed to know the whole truth before she ruined everything between Charlie and Joey. She needed to confront Joey and find out what was going on, so she could protect her sister from getting hurt.


	21. Chapter 21

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Ruby confronts Joey about her relationship with Haley. Will Joey tell Charlie the truth about the kiss?

_Thanks for the great feedback. Don't worry about Haley's meddling with our girls, I had a random thought about what to do with that character, and I'm not sure what you'll think but I thought it'd be a neat twist so we'll see how that pans out. Let me know what you think._

**Chapter Twenty-One**

"So what about her, she's cute?" Joey asked. "Yeah blonde hair, blue eyes, body to die for. Sorry more into brunettes," Haley giggled. "God you're hard to please. You've turned down every girl who's walked through the Diner for the last hour. Stop being so picky if you want me to help you find the girl for you," Joey giggled. "Yeah well it doesn't help that they're all straight! I'm never gonna find a cute girl here in this town like you. You got lucky!" Haley told her. "Sure did," Joey admitted. "Maybe I should head back to the city, might have more luck there," Hales thought loudly. "Come on you really want to leave me to deal with Coop on my own. Besides you can't expect to find your girl straight away. It'll happen when it happens."

"Excuse me ladies can I – ah get you anything else?" Colleen interrupted. Colleen had been pacing back and forth for a while, not sure if she should interrupt them. Colleen was still uncomfortable with the idea of girls _liking_ girls. "No thanks Colleen, we're good," Joey responded. "So where's Charlie? Leah told me you two were off to the city to see Ross and tell him about...you two," Colleen asked inquisitively. "Ah yes we did. And he seemed to take it well. Charlie's still in the city, spending time with Ross and Morag, and I had to come back to clear up some issues with Brett," Joey told her. "I hope that awful brother of yours isn't causing you two any problems, you and the Senior Constable have been through a lot together," Colleen said concerned. Joey was surprised by Colleen's sudden turn around as she seemed to care about her relationship with Charlie. "No major problems. Just Brett being Brett."

Colleen took off to take someone else's order. "Isn't she the town gossip that disapproves of your choice of _life partner_?" Haley queried. "That's the one. Weird," Joey concluded, "So seriously you're not considering leaving the Bay are you? Surely there's gotta be someone who perks your interest around here – well someone not me of course." "Maybe there is. She's cute, little young but still cute," Haley nodded to a girl entering the Diner, "Wait do I know her from somewhere?" Joey looked over curiously, nearly spilling her milkshake when her eyes landed on Ruby. "Ruby!" she shouted a little loudly, then leaning towards Haley, whispering "Ruby. Charlie's little sister, I don't think that's such a good..." then raising her voice as Ruby came over to them "Ruby what are you doing here?" "Funny, pretty much what I was gonna ask you girls. Joey I need to speak to you...now...alone," Ruby demanded hinting at Haley to leave. "I'm ok here," Haley smiled, liking the idea of getting to know more about the bossy girl.

Ruby grabbed Joey by the arm and dragged her out of her chair and out of the Diner. "Ok Ruby what's up? You can talk to me about anything, you don't need to drag me away from Haley. She's a good friend, anything you can say to me, you can say to her," Joey told her. "Doubt it. What's going on with you two?" Ruby demanded. "Us two who? Huh? Haley and I? Why would you think...she's a friend Rubes that's all. In actual fact before you came over Haley was just commenting on--" "I saw you two ok! And don't lie to me Jo, you know how much this is going to kill Charlie if she finds out you've been hooking up with another chick while she's away," Ruby yelled at her. "God Rubes you weren't meant to see that. And what you saw sooo wasn't what you think, I promise you. I could never do that to Charlie," Joey told her. "Then why were you kissing her?!" Ruby yelled loudly. Joey noticed that some of the residents sitting outside the cafe were looking at the pair.

Joey pulled Ruby down to the beach, so they could talk without the whole town finding out about what was going on. "Look I know what that kiss probably looked like to you but I promise you it was nothing like that. It was just a thank-you kiss. Haley told me that she has feelings for me. Don't look at me like that Rubes. She's a sweet girl and she's my friend. Nothing more, I promise. She made me realize how strong my feelings are for your sister. I need to be with her, properly. You know, move back in together. Maybe even get our own place one day soon. Start thinking about spending the rest of our lives together. Everybody important to us now knows about our relationship so there's nothing in the way of us being together," Joey explained. Ruby sighed, "Charlie's not going to see the kiss that way. And I'm not so sure she shouldn't feel that way. I can see the way that Haley looks at you, Jo. She wants to be with you, and I don't think she's bothered about the fact that Charlie's with you."

"Rubes you don't need to worry about Haley. We've sorted things out, and she knows where we stand. Brett was hassling her about us okay. She was shaken up. That kiss on the beach was just my way of telling her that she'll get lucky like me. She'll find the girl of her dreams. And that we'll never be anything more than friends. So are you going to tell Charlie?" Joey questioned. "No. But if you want to be completely honest with her then I think you should do the honours. She'll hate you for a while, but she'll get over it. You two are just one of those couples you know that'll always be a couple even when you're not all couply. It's rather disgusting actually how couply you two are!" Ruby laughed.

"Well thanks Ruby, I take it that's your way of saying you're happy about Charlie and I being together as a proper couple," Joey giggled. "Absolutely. Long as Charlie's happy I'm happy. So does this mean if you and Charlie get your own place that I can move in with you two?" Ruby asked. "Better belief it, kiddo. And let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Charlie asked me to move back in together with you and Leah, this whole getting our own place is kind of my idea. I haven't even spoken to her yet. She might hate the idea!" Joey sighed. "Yeah right, Jo. You two together is the only thing she wants right now. Ever since you've been back Charlie's been a different person. I love the person you make her be, and I'll be really happy when you guys have sorted things out and are back together for good. No more complications," Ruby said happily.

"Well after I explain to Charlie about what happened with Haley, that's what I'm hoping. No more complications. I'm kinda tired of all the drama. Maybe we can even take a proper holiday together. Look I should probably call Charlie. I don't know if I can tell her this over the phone, but I need to talk to her, let her know everything with Brett is...well not really sorted but ok I guess. Why don't you go back to the Diner, finish what's left of my milkshake? Sure Haley wouldn't mind getting to know you better..." Joey suggested. Ruby cocked an eyebrow, "Ah ok I guess." Ruby headed off towards the Diner. Joey pulled out her mobile, speed-dialling Charlie. After a few rings she finally heard Charlie's voice as she answered, "Hey Charlz, it's me. Look I'm sorry about this morning. I shouldn't have taken off like that. I need to talk to you..."


	22. Chapter 22

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Ross and Charlie have a talk about her relationship with Joey. Joey calls Charlie. Will she tell Charlie the truth about the kiss with Haley?

_I know the ending to this one is kinda hokey but I think it's cute _

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

"Afternoon, Charlie. You slept in late," Ross stated, "Hope you and Joey were...ah comfortable together last night in the – uh spare room. Well Morag and I have already had lunch but you and Joey can get something, and if you don't mind we'd like to take the two of you out to dinner tonight if--" Ross stopped when he looked up from the newspaper he was reading. Charlie looked at him sadly, "Actually there's been a change in plan. Joey got a call last night...from um a friend, Haley. She needed some help, so I took Joey to the bus stop this morning and she went back to Summer Bay to sort everything out...without me – I mean so I can spend some more time with you while I have the weekend off." Charlie sat down at the table, opposite her father. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you two work things out, and that she didn't leave because she wasn't comfortable staying here with us," Ross said. He could see how truly upset his eldest daughter was. It was clear to him, that Charlie most certainly cared a great deal for Joey. A great deal more than he ever could have thought possible.

"Dad, it's got nothing to do with you, or how you reacted...I've actually being meaning to thank you for the way you handled the news. I know it was a lot for you to take, and I'm glad that you've accepted us as a couple. Most parents wouldn't be as understanding as you," Charlie said trying to appear happier. Ross read through it. "Well I didn't want to spend my last years – or months – feeling hatred towards you. Are you sure you and Joey are ok? I mean, you seemed so happy last night, and then she's taken off to go help her friend." Charlie relaxed a little, "Well this friend is sort of...I don't know Joey and she are just friends, but I always get the sense that Joey means more to her, and then Joey goes running off to help her, and I thought everything between us was good again. We've been through so much and we're finally starting to re-build things and now I don't know where we stand...and I need some coffee to calm me down before I turn into a total spaz with my ranting," Charlie blushed.

"Charlie, I don't believe for a second that Joey could have feelings for anyone else. The way she looked at you convinced me that this was not just some phase you were going through. You've told me what you've been through and I understand you may both be slightly hesitant to make a good go of things with her. But if you think for a second that you might lose her, then perhaps you should..." "Fight for her!" Ross and Charlie concluded unanimously. "There's my girl," Ross laughed, "How'd you know that's what I was gonna suggest?" Charlie shrugged, "Guess you and Ruby really are alike, she told me to do the same thing when Joey was leaving Summer Bay for her job on the trawler."

"May I ask if you took your sister's advice last time?" Ross inquired. Charlie sighed, "I tried to, but whatever I did or said...it wasn't enough to make her stay with me. What if that happens again?" "Charlie, she came back to you, didn't she? And if you believe you two are strong enough to face anything then maybe this time you should truly fight for her so she doesn't have any need to run away and come back. I'm not going to lie to you, your relationship with Joey blind sighted me, but I can see you two are happy together. It's all I ever wanted for you. So now get out of here, go for a walk, stay here for a while, pack your bags or go back to Summer Bay, I don't care. But only you can decide _what you want_. So take your time but...you know decide already," Ross told her.

Charlie got out of her seat, went over to her father, and hugged him. "Thanks. I'm lucky to have a father like you," Charlie said gratefully, "You're right, I'm gonna take a walk and see if I can think things through--" Charlie was interrupted by the sound of her mobile phone ringing. The distinctive ring tone of a special tone, _'Love Only Hurts'_ signalled to Charlie that it was Joey, before she even looked at the caller ID. She excused herself and went into her room. Breathing slowly, she answered the call, "Hey Jo."

Ten minutes later, Charlie hung up her phone. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked herself loudly. She had listened as Joey had told her everything. Brett confronting her and Haley, Haley telling Brett that she and Joey _are together,_ and Haley telling Joey that 'she's the girl for Joey.' And then there was the kiss. The two second, simple thank-you kiss Joey planted on Haley, plus Ruby telling Joey to be honest about Haley. Charlie tried to focus on the final thing Joey had told her: that hearing Haley saying those things about her, only re-confirmed that she needed to be with Charlie. There was no one else. Charlie told Joey that she needed some time to think about things.

Charlie was glad that Joey felt brave enough to tell her what had happened. After all, she had never been that brave when she'd slept with Hugo, and couldn't face telling Joey the truth. The situation wasn't the same but she was still hurt. "Is this what Joey felt when she found out about Hugo and I?" Charlie questioned. No...that must have been a million times worse. Charlie was so confused. Do I even have a right to be upset? It was just a kiss. A spur-of-the-moment, regretted-it-the-second-it-happened kiss. Compared to what I did to Joey, this meant nothing right? But it did mean something. It meant Haley could be right, that Charlie wasn't 'the one' for Joey. Joey had initiated the kiss, not Haley, so Joey must have some feelings for Haley.

"Arrrgghhh," Charlie yelled. It's all my fault, she thought, as she deduced that Joey would never have met Haley if Charlie hadn't been with Hugo. Just when things are getting better for us, this happens. Calming herself down, Charlie sat down on the bed, as she realized that her father was right. She needed to decide once and for all what she wanted. And if she wanted to be with Joey she should fight like hell to keep her. Charlie got up and started packing her bags, "I can't stay here processing all this. I need to talk to Joey face to face before I make any rash decisions." With her bags packed, she walked out to the living room, to inform Morag and her father that she was going back to Summer Bay. After been farewelled, she got in her car and started the drive back to Summer Bay.

A few hours alone in the car gave Charlie plenty of time to think things through. Knowing that Joey didn't give up on her after all her mistakes, gave Charlie the courage to know that she could get past the kiss. But she didn't know if Haley would still be there, hanging around Joey all the time like best friends do. Should I care? Should I ask Haley to back off and leave us alone? That could hurt Joey even more. Haley was there for Joey when you weren't. When you were off drinking or working your sorrows away for three months, Haley was there holding Joey together. Why can't this relationship be simple? Girl meets girl, girl falls for girl, girls get together, girls live happily ever after. What's wrong with the Disney version of love? But no it had to be the dramatic version of love: As above, but add girl freaks out and spends time processing feelings for said other girl, girl freaks again when everyone finds out about the girls and sleeps with first idiotic moron she sees, then loses the girl, then take away the girls live happily ever after part.

These thoughts kept rolling through Charlie's head. This is too much, I can't keep thinking about all this, I just need to know what to do. "I need a sign, something, anything to tell me what I should do. Forgive or forget. I can't keep messing everything up by making the wrong choice," Charlie sighed desperately. Suddenly she looked down at her radio, "I need a song to tell me what to do," she concluded. Good old fashioned Radio Game, turn on the radio and hopefully the random song will answer your question. Charlie paused for a second, "This is stupid, childish. I need to make my own decisions, I can't rely on some _fate_ to tell me what to do in a song." Charlie shrugged, "Oh what the hell, anything's better than sitting here in this car, been confounded by all my thoughts. But I swear to God if I turn this on and 'Highway to Hell' starts playing again, I'm gonna scream because we already had to put up with that torture 3 times on the way over here! Please let this song help me know what I should do. What I want." Charlie fiddled with the dial, before switching on the radio, as a song started playing...


	23. Chapter 23

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Will a simple song destroy Charlie's hopes of ever winning Joey back or will it give her the strength she needs to get her back? Charlie has a chat to Ruby about Haley.

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Everything by Lifehouse

_Find me here, speak to me  
I want to feel you, I need to hear you  
You are the light that's leading me to the place  
Where I find peace again  
You are the strength that keeps me walking  
You are the hope that keeps me trusting  
You are the light to my soul  
You are my purpose  
You're everything  
And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this  
You calm the storms and you give me rest  
You hold me in your hands  
You won't let me fall  
You still my heart, and you take my breath away  
Would you take me in take me deeper now  
And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this  
And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this  
Cause you're all I want,  
You're all I need  
You're everything... everything  
You're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything... everything  
You're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything... everything  
You're all I want  
You're all I need  
Everything... everything  
And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this  
And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be any better any better than this  
And how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this  
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this_

_For those of you that have the time or aren't at work reading Jarlie fanfiction instead of doing actual work here's the link to the song so you can listen to it: .com/watch?v=fjDojEOiMcE_

"_You're everything_," Charlie repeated after the song finished, and she turned the radio off. "Well that settles it then. Huh didn't actually think that would work for a second. Guess now I have my answer, so now all I need to do is convince Joey...that she's _all I want, all I need, everything...everything_ – ok maybe I should lay off the singing it part...unless I definitely don't want her to take me back," Charlie laughed. Looking out of her window to the sky, Charlie quietly whispered, "Thank you," to whatever powers sent her the sign she needed. Putting her foot down on the accelerator, all Charlie could think about is getting back to the Bay and back to Joey.

Not long after, Charlie pulled up at her place, to dump her bags there before heading over to Joey's place to talk. Walking into the kitchen, Charlie noticed Ruby sitting slumped at the table. Charlie walked up behind Rubes, giving her a big hug from behind, but was a little surprised when Ruby didn't return the hug. Moving around she looked at Ruby, and noticed the splotched mascara under her eyes, she'd been crying. "Hey Rubes, what's going on?" Charlie asked concerned. "Hey Charlz, I'm sorry welcome back," Ruby said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean for you to come back and see me like this. I'm just been stupid." "Hey, what are you talking about? You're my sister, you're not stupid. Whatever it is it must be important. Talk to me," Charlie insisted.

"Oh it's nothing, just Xavier broke up with me...finally. Not like I didn't see it coming. Ever since Hugo went _missing _his mum's tried to convince him to move back to the city to help with Brendan. Guess he finally caved. He just called to tell me he won't be back in the Bay, so we're finished. The sad thing is I'm not at all upset. I've had an interesting day, had lunch with Haley, she's really cool and funny. And I spoke to Joey about her and Haley and...OMG that's why you're back here! I can't believe I nearly forgot. How are you? Did Joey...tell you about...Haley and the um..." Ruby sighed hoping she hadn't just said too much. She didn't manage to catch Joey after their chat, too busy enjoying my lunch date (did I just use the word _date_??) with Haley, to check in if Joey had spoken to Charlie about the kiss.

"Kiss?" Charlie finally finished for her, "Yeah she told me. I'm sorry she put you in that position, but she also told me that you were the one who convinced her to be honest with me. Thanks." "As hard as it was for you to hear, you needed to hear it from Joey. I'm sorry. How are things between you two? I mean are you okay after this? You didn't break up or anything? What am I talking about? I shed a few tears about my break up with Xavier, you're sitting here smiling. If you'd broken up with your soul mate, you'd be a complete wreck right?" Ruby rambled. Charlie giggled at Ruby's rant, "No we haven't broken up...least I don't think so. I told Joey that I needed some time to work through this alone, but I finally realized that I need to stop processing my feelings and act on them for once, so I was hoping to see Joey tonight and tell her how I feel about her."

"And....that is? Well don't keep me in the dark Charlz. Sisters get privileged information on this stuff," Ruby explained. Charlie relented, "It's hard to put into words but I'm tired of this on-again off-again thing that we've had since we first got together. I want to be with her, I love her. And I'm hoping I can convince her that we belong together. That I'm the girl for her, not Haley." Ruby reached out and hugged her big sister, "Tell Joey that, and how could she turn you down? Besides I'm pretty certain Joey's not the girl for Haley." "Well I've made enough mistakes for Joey to turn me down," Charlie said sadly before asking surprised, "You think Joey's not the girl for Haley? You sound like you have inside info." Ruby giggled, "Well like I said I spent some time with the girl, and I think she's gonna get over whatever feelings she had for Joey. I think she was more in love with the idea of being in love then actually being in love with Joey."

Charlie frowned, "Is that supposed to make any sense to me Rubes?" Ruby blushed, "Probably not. But the good news for you is that I'm going to the surf club this evening with Hales, to play some pool and enjoy some non-alcoholic beverages. Coop's on a week-long boat trip, so Joey will be all by herself in that apartment if you're planning on seeing her tonight." Charlie looked at her suspiciously, "Since when did you start calling her Hales?" "What's wrong with that? It's a nickname. Friends call friends by their nicknames. There's nothing odd about that. Nothing, nadda, zip. All normal. Why are you looking at me like that?" Ruby asked blushing.

"Rubes, you're one weird kid. But I'm glad you see something good in Haley. Not that I thought she was some vindictive girl looking to steal Joey from me...ok maybe I thought that for a moment...but I'm glad you two are hanging out. You seem somehow happier since I left, which is weird since you just broke up with Xavier," Charlie observed. "Things happen for a reason, Charlz, you taught me that. Now I'm gonna get ready for my evening out, and you should get changed, pretty yourself up a bit and go get your girl back," Ruby told her. "Sounds good to me, you have some fun tonight, but don't you go getting yourself into any trouble," Charlie told her. "Me? Trouble? Never," Ruby looked innocent.

Charlie took her bags into her room, and slipped into the bathroom for a nice relaxing shower. After getting changed into some comfortable jeans, and a gorgeous black silk top, Charlie made her way over to Coop's place to see Joey. As she walked up the driveway she could see a light on in the main entrance, and was glad that Ruby was right about Joey being at the apartment on her own. That will give us at least a few hours to talk, and work through all this once and for all. As Charlie reached the front door, she could smell the faint aromas of dinner being cooked. Charlie smiled, "Joey's cooking her fish-soupy thing. Maybe she'll invite me in and we can have dinner together, good food, good wine. Maybe some kisses. Don't get ahead of yourself Charlz! You need to talk to Joey first before you think about spending the night with her. Thoughts like that make talking difficult!" Charlie scowled at herself. Slowly she lifted her hand and knocked on the door. After a short while, Joey threw open the door. After her initial surprise at seeing Charlie back, she hesitated but pulled Charlie into a hug. "Wow I didn't expect to see you back so early. I missed you!" she told the older girl. Charlie pulled out of the hug, "Kinda missed you too. I was hoping we could talk." Joey nodded, and moved out of the doorway so Charlie could enter, then Joey closed the door behind them.


	24. Chapter 24

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Ruby and Haley go out on their _date_. Will Ruby admit she has feelings for the girl? And if so will she freak out like Charlie did?

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Ruby walked into the Surf Club, and spotted Haley standing at the bar. She walked over to her, and plonked herself on the bar stool next to the girl. "Hey Hales, how goes it?" she asked. Haley laughed at her, "It goes good, Rubes. And you?" "All's good in the world. Which is strange considering...?" Ruby started then trailed off, before a nudge from Haley convinced her to continue. "Xavier broke up with me. He's been pretty distant lately, and he's had to move back to his mum's since his older brother went MIA, so we're over. Simple as that." "You ok with that?" Haley inquired. "Yeah. I liked Xavier a lot but we hardly had the whole "_Charlie-Joey epic-love_" thing going for us," Ruby admitted, then noticing Haley's reaction to her words, she quietly apologised. "Hey its fine, I think I'm starting to get over all this. Besides you'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see their '_epic-love_.' Give me a sec." Haley finally got the bartenders attention, and ordered a couple drinks for the two of them.

Walking over to the pool table, the girls picked the sticks and racked up the balls. Haley broke as Ruby watched on. Ruby was shocked by how good Haley was at the game. Nice going Rubes, after everything today and you come here to get your ass handed to you by Hales, she thought. As Haley leant over to take another shot, Ruby blurted out, "Charlie's back. In town I mean. Joey called her this arvo and told her about your um kiss on the beach. She was upset but now she's back, and wants to sort things out with Joey once and for all. Are you okay with that?" Haley looked at her, "Yeah its cool. I knew I never stood a chance with her, but couldn't help but try. You ah um saw the kiss huh? I'm surprised you didn't mention that you saw us together when we had lunch today." Ruby leaned forward taking her shot, standing up, she said, "I saw Joey kiss you. Maybe you didn't pull away, but you didn't exactly kiss her back with the intention of pushing Joey into something she didn't want. Besides you and Joey shouldn't have any effect on us being friends."

Haley smiled, "You're kinda amazing that you don't judge people. I like that. Just so you know I never meant to hurt your sister, by coming between her and Joey. Just couldn't help falling for her. Orange ball, right corner pocket." Lining up for her shot, Haley got distracted looking at Ruby as she sipped her drink, and sunk the 8-ball instead. Instant win for Ruby. Ruby giggled as she bounced around the table, doing a victory dance, before coming to a stop nearly bumping into Haley. "I win! I can't believe you lost, aren't you what they call 'good' at this game?" Ruby teased. "What can I say? Got distracted and now I'm off my game," Haley admitted. Ruby smiled, "You know I don't think I've ever won a game of pool before, what do I win? What's my prize?" Haley laughed, "You mean the little public victory dance, and the instant gratification that you're better than me isn't enough?" "Hell no!" Ruby giggled. "Well how about I shout us some more drinks and after that we can get some food at the Diner?" Haley suggested.

"Sounds good, though I'm kinda hungry now. Do you mind if we skip the next lot of drinks? Maybe we can even get take-away from the Diner, and go for a walk along the beach? It's a nice night outside," Ruby told her. "That could be fun," Haley said sweetly. Ruby grabbed their purses, and left their drinks on the table, before grabbing Haley's hand and pulling her out of the Surf Club. Haley was surprised when they were outside the Club, and Ruby hadn't let go of her hand. "So," Ruby started, "Are you going to be sticking around town for a while? Not that I thought Joey was the only reason you were still here--" Haley giggled, "Maybe yesterday she was part of the reason. But this town's kinda growing on me. And there's other reasons for me to stick around," Haley looked down at their hands held together, "Like ah I just got a great job, those are hard to come by, and Coop. Coop's a great friend, he's got a great place, charges little rent. And maybe I just made a good...friend. So it's worth sticking around." Ruby smiled, "Good I was just curious if you were gonna up and leave suddenly...I'm glad you're staying." Haley giggled, "I'm glad you're...glad. Hey look Diner here we are. Let's get some food."

Ten minutes later the girls were sitting down by the beach, finishing up the burgers they had just gotten from Leah. "Wow this place really is peaceful," Haley commented. "You kidding me? You stick around here you'll find out soon enough just how dramatic Summer Bay is. I'm sure by next week you'll be held at gunpoint and kidnapped, attacked by a shark, or maybe an ex-husband of yours will come back to wreck havoc on your life. Hey get real lucky and you could just bag three outta three," Ruby replied. "Boy Summer Bay sure does have some drama! Well it's a good thing there's no ex-husband to speak of. 'Cause that could be awkward," Haley laughed. "Good to know...is there an ex-boyfr – duh girlfriend – or um ex-anything out there?" Ruby questioned. Haley smiled cutely, "No, nobody important anyway. Certainly nobody who'd come to Summer Bay to 'cause some drama for me and...my friends. So is there anything else you want to do tonight? I'm guessing with Charlie back, I should steer clear of Coop's apartment for the night, give the two of them some alone time. So don't want to walk in on that!" "You should come over to our place. Leah and Roman were working together tonight at the Diner so she'll probably go to his place tonight. VJ's on a sleepover with a schoolmate, and Charlie's...we already discussed where Charlie is didn't we? Sorry. We could just hang out, watch some DVD's or something," Ruby suggested. "Sure sounds good, let's get going," Haley agreed.

Soon the two girls were curled up on the couch, with some popcorn, a large doona to keep them warm and watching the latest romantic comedy Ruby had rented, "Bride Wars." Haley was astonished when Ruby started snuggling up to her. She stared at the younger girl for a while, until Ruby noticed her staring. "Something more important than the movie there Hales?" Haley blushed. "Sorry. I was just not quite as interested in this movie as I thought I would be. Guess I don't get the whole marriage thing. It's just a piece of paper...ok so it's a piece of paper this government doesn't think I deserve but I...so don't want to talk about all this. It's not important, hardly like I'm anywhere near that stage of my life. Just looking at having some fun, nothing too serious, right now." Ruby leaned closer, "Really and is there anyone...in particular you want to have some fun with?" "There might be," Haley responded as she moved her hand and cupped Ruby's chin.

Before she could lean forward, Ruby pulled back. "Or maybe I'm reading into things that aren't there?" Haley continued. Ruby held her hand, "You're not I'm just not sure what's going on here," she admitted. Haley shrugged giggling, "I know exactly what's going on here. I'm cute, you're resistant!" Ruby laughed at her, "Hardly. I'm just a little confused by all this. I mean a few months ago when Charlie came out to me I completely wigged. Ok more of it had to do with her keeping secrets than about the gay part but...now I don't know how to describe my feelings or why I'm feeling like this – God I sound like Charlie when she told me! This can't be a good thing. Me talking like Charlie, you should run for the hills." Haley smiled at her, "I think I'll stay. Look I get it ok. I don't want to rush into anything either. Don't think we're ready for that. Besides I'm sure if Charlie walked in on us right now, she'd want to kick my ass for even thinking about her baby sister. So I'm comfortable taking some time out, just being friends, and then maybe seeing what happens."

Ruby agreed, "I like that idea. No point rushing something. If it's meant to be, nothing will get in the way. Not even Charlie! Just don't tell her I said that. She likes to think she's the boss of me. Although I'll tell you now when she finds out about um us she is gonna freak out! A whole lot worse than I did. Thanks for being so sweet. I don't know why I ever thought I had to hate you." Haley looked at her, "Huh?" Ruby admitted, "Well the whole Joey and you thing, I saw that coming since you moment you got here. And I had to do the whole sister thing for Charlie and hate you. See it would be petty for Charlie to hate you, but I'm just the sister. I wanted to hate you for both Charlie and I. Funny how things work out sometimes huh?" "Yeah. Thanks for the not-hating me part," Haley whispered. "You're welcome," Ruby said. Chewing on her lip for a moment, Ruby got up the courage, and leant forward, delicately kissing Haley quickly. Stunned, and not knowing what to say, the two girls decided to snuggle back into the doona, and continue watching the movie. Enjoying their night together.


	25. Chapter 25

**Title: "Someday Is Something"**

Rating: T

Summary: Charlie lays her heart on the line. Will Joey forgive her and will they get their happily ever after?

_Does nobody trust Haley at all? LOL. Love that you all want to protect Ruby from her, but it certainly wasn't my intention for her to come between Jarlie anymore. So you can all relax now and enjoy reading._

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Charlie breathed deeply as she sat down on the couch. Joey had gone into the kitchen to turn the stove off, and serve them up some of her famous fish-soupy thing. Charlie was still unsure how she could put her feelings into words to Joey, hoping it'll just come to her when Joey returns. Soon enough she heard footsteps behind her. Joey placed two bowls in front of Charlie on the table. "Sorry there's not a huge amount, wasn't expecting company so only made enough for me," Joey explained. Charlie relaxed, "That's okay. Maybe I should have called first. Guess I just wanted to get back here to sort everything out." Joey sat down on the couch next to Charlie, "So while we're on the subject. How come you're back early? I thought you wanted to spend some extra time with your dad. I know I shouldn't have just taken off like that. But you weren't listening to me when I said I had to help Haley. Instead you were acting very jealous, and I didn't want to be around that."

"Well I didn't want to spend any more time away from you. I shouldn't have _let you_ go like that. I should've understood that you were just being...you. Helping a good friend. And I'm sorry about the whole jealously thing. I just kind of didn't want to lose you to her or anyone. And I hate to be all grade-school, but after that kiss I kinda had a right to be jealous. I knew she was interested in you," Charlie admitted. Joey could feel her anger at Charlie's accusations. "Don't try to justify your anger at Haley ok! She didn't do anything wrong. I did! I was the one that kissed her. It didn't mean anything to me, she's just a friend. But it doesn't make it right that you're blaming her. I understand what you're feeling right now about the kiss. Believe me I know exactly how it feels!"

Charlie could feel the tears well up in her eyes, "So this is what? Payback? I hurt you, you hurt me back. Real mature, Jo. Everything was great with us when we went to the City. I told my family about us, I was ready to be out with you. I was even considering asking you to move back in with me, but then you left. To protect her." Joey stood up, turned away from Charlie, "It was never payback for anything. I love you too much to watch you go through what I went through when I found out about Hugo. What did you expect me to do about Brett? He's my brother, so he's my problem, not yours or Haley's. I was trying to protect all of us from him, including you." Joey turned around to look at Charlie. "You were trying to protect me?" she asked quietly. Joey nodded.

Charlie felt some tears fall down her cheek. "That's why I was so upset at you leaving. You were protecting her, not me. I wanted to be the only girl you protected. I'm a cop, it's my job to protect the people I don't know and especially the ones I care about. And I'm not advertising this to my bosses, but sometimes I need a little protecting too. You're the only person in the whole world that I've let in. I'm closed off, I shut people out. But it's different with you. I was terrified when I realized I had feelings for you. I've never let anyone get close to me because they just end up leaving. People always leave. And then you did leave..." "Charlie you know I didn't want--" Joey started but Charlie held up her hand stopping her.

"Let me finish Jo. You left yes, and it's not like I didn't give you a good enough reason to take off. But you did something most others didn't. You came back! And I knew that I had to do everything possible to win you back. You're my whole world. And I don't want to pressure you, but I need to be with you. I'm tired of letting little things like jealously get the better of us. I want to be with you, completely. I'm talking scary, no-emotions-barred-need kinda love. I'll give you my heart, body and soul. I never want to hold back from you, and I'll risk everything for you...if you'll let me. You're my everything Jo. Everything." Charlie sat there nervously, not sure what to think after her big rant. Note to self, gotta stop making these big speeches, she told herself. She tried to look at Joey's reaction, work out what she was thinking.

Joey stood there trying to process everything Charlie had told her. She was so overwhelmed. This was everything she'd dreamed of since she met Charlie. They'd gotten back together but things were still so strained and difficult. She couldn't live like that again. This time it's all or nothing. Can I take that chance again? She asked herself. Trust her with my heart and soul? I couldn't live if she hurt me again...but I can't live without her. Joey walked back over to the couch, sitting next to Charlie; she took her face in her hands. Forcing Charlie to look her in the eyes, she stroked her fingers over her cheeks, wiping away her tears. She leant forward, catching Charlie's lips with her own. Pulling back slightly, Joey whispered, "Scary, no-emotions-barred-need kinda love? I can live with that. It's all or nothing Charlie. I need you to know that I forgive you for everything that happened, but if it ever happens again--" "It won't," Charlie interrupted.

Continuing, Joey told her, "I will never give you this chance again. But I need to have you back in my life this time. I love everything about you. The simplest things make me crazy about you. I want to start our lives together. No more jealousies or insecurities. Pain or suffering. Just us. You're all I need in this world to be happy. There was a time I thought I'd never be happy again. But you changed my whole world. Turned it upside down, and gave it a spin. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you. Always and forever." "Always and forever? That's what I've always wanted with you from the moment I met you. You've got me Joey Collins. I'm not going anywhere. I love you," Charlie declared. "I love you too," Joey confessed.

The two girls leaned forward into a passionate kiss. Finally able to put the past behind them, and make a new start. Knowing nothing could come between them. During their much-needed make-out session, Joey pulled back. Charlie looked upset, "Sorry did I push too far? If you're not ready--" Joey put her finger against Charlie's lips quietening her. "I am ready. I want to be with you more than anything...except I don't think the living room is the best place for this and I kinda share a room with Haley here, so maybe we should go back to your place. Haley will probably be back from her date soon." Charlie stared at her in disbelief, "I'm sorry did you say _date_?"

Joey nodded, "Yeah Haley was real secretive about it, wouldn't tell me who she was seeing tonight. Maybe she was afraid I'd be upset that she's moving on so fast. I don't by the way. I guess...Charlie what's wrong?" Charlie laughed, "Nothing. It just can't be a date. I mean if it was a date Ruby would have said something to me." Joey was confused, "Wait what does Ruby have to do with...? Ohhh Ruby's out with Haley tonight. Well that kinda makes sense. I mean the Haley-Ruby getting along thing, not the Haley-Ruby on a maybe possible date thing. Haley said they had fun at lunch today. So I doubt it's a date. Can't be a date. Can it?" "It's not a date," Charlie concurred, "Glad we got that sorted. So do you want to head over to my place now?"

Joey got up, walking towards her room, yelling over the shoulder, "Yeah just give me ten minutes." Charlie looked puzzled, "You look great Jo. Why are you going to make me wait so long?" Joey returned, popping her head into the living room, giggling "Well I'm gonna need my stuff if I'm gonna move back in with you silly. I'm sure we'll be too wrapped up in one another for the next few days to worry about coming back for my stuff." Charlie smiled, "You're moving back in with me? Really?" "Well did you think I missed the part in your little rant about you asking me to move back in with you?" Joey replied. Charlie laughed, "I was afraid you did. Now what are you doing? Get your butt back in there and grab your stuff, so we can move in quicker."

Not long after, Charlie had parked her car in front of Leah's place, and was helping Joey grab her bags. Charlie pulled Joey aside before they walked in the front door. "Hey, I just wanted to say thanks. For believing in me. You never gave up on us, even when you were given every reason to. I can't wait for us to be together. I mean it this time. I love you. Always and forever." Joey smiled, kissing Charlie on the lips, "Always and forever," she repeated, "Now let's get inside so we can express our love to one another." "Cheeky," Charlie commented.

Quietly walking into the house, afraid to wake Ruby if she was home, Charlie was startled to hear noises from the living room. Entering the room, she relaxed as she saw Ruby lying on the couch, asleep with the TV still on, some movie still playing and...Haley cuddling up to her sister. Also asleep. Joey walked in behind her, surprised that Charlie had stopped walking. Looking up at the scene in front of them, "Huh guess we were wrong about one thing tonight." "It was a _date!"_ Charlie and Joey stated unanimously. Joey reached for Charlie's hand, "Are you ok with this?" "Huh duh I um – I think I'll have a talk with Ruby tomorrow about this. Certainly didn't see this coming," Charlie admitted. "Are you sure? Did you want to wake them up and talk to Ruby now?" Joey questioned. Charlie looked her in the eyes, "No. They look comfortable. No way am I ruining that. Besides I don't want to do any talking tonight." "Really, well then what do you want to do C Buckton?" Charlie grabbed Joey's hand, and pulled her into her room. "Spend the first night of the rest of our lives together J Collins." The two girls embraced each other. Wanting nothing more than to block out the world outside, hoping tomorrow never comes.

_And thanks to Fan Fic this is one of the ways the storyline can end. Too bad it's unlikely to happen in the show. Well that's the final chapter for my story. I loved writing it, but I don't think I could have carried on much longer without it been true to the storyline H&A set up._

_I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone for reviewing this fic. Special shout-outs go to AuthorW & JSCO81 - you guys were great reviewing pretty much every chapter. Kept me wanting to write more._

_I'm off thinking of new ideas for my next story so hope you'll come and review that one when I start posting it._


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